Octopus vulgaris as a component of the benthic fauna of the NW African coast : a note on an investigation of species community organization using multifactorial analysis

The common octopus #Octopus vulgaris$ is very abundant off the coast of NW Africa, where it is exploited on such a large scale that it is the most valuable fishery product of Mauritania. Considering its economic value and because the stocks have been subjected to very high fishing pressure there since the 1970s, without any apparent long-term decrease in the landings, this study focuses on the species' spatio-temporal distribution compared to that of other species of the same benthic coastal community in order to provide some new information about its ecology. Multifactorial analysis of ecological data reveals that the common octopus dominates the benthic community off Mauritania and covers a broad range of habitats. such characteristics may provide it with a considerable ecological advantage. (Résumé d'auteur