I just finished "Other Minds" by Godfrey-Smith which reference one of these "Octopolises". For anybody interested in either octopuses or how nature evolves different forms of consciousness its a really interesting read.

What most struck me was how incredibly short lived octopuses are. I guess some deep-sea variants may have longer life spans, but i was surprised that the variants we usually encounter only live for approximately two years before they wither and die.

Now as for what an octopus could be able to do with its body-distributed form of consciousness given a longer lifespan is a rather interesting question.