From the shinmei (name of god), it is believed to be the leading god of the sea, but no god named Owatatsumi appears after this in kiki (the Kojiki (A Record of Ancient Matter) and Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan)), and is only described in the Yasugi-no-sato article of Izumo no kuni fudoki (the topography of Izumo Province) as Watazumi.
神名から海の主宰神と考えられるが、この後、オオワタツミという名前の神は記紀には登場せず出雲国風土記の安来郷の条に海若(わだつみ)として記述されるのみである。