Seafood

Octopus

Octopus is a cephalopod with eight sucker-bearing arms, not squid or cuttlefish; appearance is supporting evidence only, so confirm the original label or counter sign.

繁體中文: 八爪魚
English: Octopus
Bahasa Indonesia: Gurita
Tagalog: Pugita

What is it?

Octopus is a Hong Kong market or food-shop term. This page keeps the locked market scope and does not infer species, cut or formula from colour or one shape.

How to identify it

rounded mantle; eight arms bearing suckers; no pair of long feeding tentacles or squid-like lateral fins.

rounded mantle
eight arms bearing suckers
no pair of long feeding tentacles or squid-like lateral fins

Common confusion

Squid

Squid has eight arms plus two longer feeding tentacles and usually lateral mantle fins; octopus has eight sucker-bearing arms only.

Common Hong Kong household uses

Prepare it according to the employer’s recipe and product label, then cook it thoroughly before serving.

Preparation or handling

Use separate boards and knives for raw seafood, then wash hands and clean work surfaces; cook thoroughly to a centre temperature of at least 75°C for 30 seconds.

Storage

Keep raw seafood covered at 4°C or below on the lowest refrigerator shelf, separate from cooked and ready-to-eat food.

Helper tip

Squid has eight arms plus two longer feeding tentacles and usually lateral mantle fins; octopus has eight sucker-bearing arms only.

What Ma’am or Sir may say

買八爪魚，睇清楚牌仔，返嚟分開生熟處理。

The employer asks for Octopus, with the label checked and raw food kept separate from cooked food at home.

Useful market phrase

唔該要八爪魚，要原裝標籤或檔口牌清楚嗰款。

Does the image look correct?

Last reviewed

2026-08-24