totem?

We recently learned that the closest thing my partner has to a totem animal is the tursiops truncatus, or bottlenose dolphin.

Mine is the octopus, which I think is a sinister totem to be saddled with. Octopi have horrible reputations among humans, but in reality they're rather shy creatures, intelligent for a fish, and not a menace except to whatever they eat.

I find it a bit strange that both our totem animals are marine creatures.