In the benthic octopus Octopus cyanea Gray, acclimated to high temperature (30°C), digestion takes 12 h. Animal weight and food intake do not influence the duration of digestion. By regulating the rate of food passage in the alimentary canal, the quantity of digested food (as a percentage of ingested food) is kept constant at a particular time. A comparison with other cephalopod species and with different fish species, leads to the conclusion that the mode of life is the main factor determining the duration of digestion and its efficiency. For a given species, the duration of digestion depends on temperature. For a similar mode of life and at equal temperatures, digestion is more rapid and more efficient in cephalopods than in fishes.