【Reading】いいだこ

【English Name】Webfoot octopus

Written with the characters meaning "rice octopus," the ocellated octopus (iidako) is a member of the octopus family that ranges widely along the coastal waters of East Asia; it is a small species whose adults reach only about 30 cm in total length. The Japanese name derives from the way a spawning female's body cavity becomes densely packed with eggs, resembling freshly cooked white rice ("mama"). As an external characteristic, two golden eyespots sit side by side near the base of the arms, which serves as an important clue for distinguishing it from related species.

Its range centers on the coastal areas of the Japanese archipelago, stretching from southern Hokkaido to Kyushu, and extends to the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula and the coastal areas of mainland China. Its main habitat is the sandy-mud bottoms of calm inner bays, generally in shallows of less than about 10 m depth. Octopus-pot fishing is widely used in catching it, with natural shells or imitation shells serving as lures. Given that earthenware corresponding to small octopus pots has been excavated at Yayoi- and Kofun-period sites, it appears to have been part of food culture since ancient times.

What stands out about it as an ingredient is its resilient flesh and the concentrated umami of its eggs. Individuals just before spawning command high evaluation at market, and the mainstream of distribution is the size class of around 10-something centimeters in body length. It suits a wide range of cooking methods including sashimi, salt-boiling, su-miso ae, oden, tako-meshi (octopus rice), and deep-frying. In Korea it is known as "jukkumi" and frequently appears on the table as a stir-fried dish. While the Seto Inland Sea is famous as a producing area, Kagawa Prefecture's catch plummeted from 199 tons in 2002 to a mere 1.6 tons in 2022, making the establishment of a resource management system an urgent issue.