First record of pouched octopus, Cistopus platinoidus in a tropical estuary

Abstract Octopuses are marine benthic stenohaline organisms that exhibit a short range of migration within marine habitats and avoid brackish or freshwater environments. The present document is the first record of 'pouched octopus', Cistopus platinoidus Sreeja et al. 2015, from a tropical estuarine system. We collected 15 specimens of C. platinoidus from the set bag nets operated in Narmada estuary, located 40 km away from the river mouth with an in-situ salinity of 17.63. This report is a new finding of an octopus species from a brackish water ecosystem outside its normal inhabitance range to the best of our knowledge.