The common octopus of the Veracruz Reef System (VRS, southwestern Gulf of Mexico) has historically been considered asOctopus vulgaris, and yet, to date, no study including both morphological and genetic data has tested that assumption. To assess this matter, 52 octopuses were sampled in different reefs within the VRS to determine the taxonomic identity of this commercially valuable species using an integrative taxonomic approach through both morphological and genetic analyses. Morphological and genetic data confirmed that the common octopus of the VRS is notO. vulgarisand determined that it is, in fact, the recently describedO. insularis. Morphological measurements, counts, indices, and other characteristics such as specific colour patterns, closely matched what had been reported forO. insularisin Brazil. In addition, sequences from cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and 16S ribosomal RNA (r16S) mitochondrial genes confirmed that the common octopus from the VRS is in the same highly supported clade asO. insularisfrom Brazil. Genetic distances of both mitochondrial genes as well as of cytochrome oxidase subunit III (COIII) and novel nuclear rhodopsin sequences for the species, also confirmed this finding (0–0.8%). We discuss our findings in the light of the recent reports of octopus species misidentifications involving the members of the ‘O. vulgarisspecies complex’ and underscore the need for more morphological studies regarding this group to properly address the management of these commercially valuable and similar taxa.

The octopus fishery in Mexico is supported by two species, Octopus maya and an Octopus vulgaris-like species that teuthologists have named O. vulgaris type I. The main fishery species off the Yucatan Peninsula is O. maya, whereas the O. vulgaris-like species historically has supported the octopus fishery off the Mexican east coast. Management policies protect this species in the Veracruz Reef System (VRS) in the Gulf of Mexico, where artisanal fisherman catches it; however, specimens of O. vulgaris type I harvested in this reef system share haplotypes with Octopus insularis, and they cluster together in a strongly supported monophyletic clade. The species O. insularis does not belong to the O. vulgaris complex, as it was previously believed; it is related to the American octopuses, O. maya and Octopus mimus. The results indicate that O. insularis is distributed from the Gulf of Mexico to the coastal waters off southern Brazil and imply that the octopus fishery in the VRS is based on a misidentifi...