The generic name Enteroctopus was created by Alphonse Tremeau de Rochebrune and Jules François Mabille in 1887 and published in 1889,[1] joining Ancient Greek ἔντερον 'gut' and ὀκτώπους, thus 'octopus [with arms similar to] guts.

Hochberg noted that Robson had considered E. membranaceus a junior synonym of E. megalocyathus, the second species assigned to the genus by Rochebrune and Mabille in their 1889 description.

[3] Species in the genus Enteroctopus are restricted to the temperate areas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

[3] The other three species are found in the Southern Hemisphere; E. megalocyathus occurs on the southeastern coast of South America,[6] E. magnificus on the southwestern coast of Africa from Namibia to Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and E. zealandicus in temperate New Zealand.

The remaining members of the genus are substantially smaller, with E. megalocyathus having an average mass of 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) and reaching a total length of 1.0 metre (3.3 feet).