Cephalopod Freak Show

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Unfortunately, Zoologix beat us to the story of Henry the Hexapus. Henry, caught in a lobster pot off north Whales, is the first reported six-legged octopus. The loss of two limbs did not occur from a tangle with some thug octopus but rather results from a birth defect. If you’re interested in how such a thing could happen in this beautiful world, PZ has a whole post on HOX genes and cephalopod development that is good preliminary reading. How common are octopod defects? Below the fold is something we like to call Cephalopod Freak Show!

  1. Heptapus: Gledall (1989) “A male specimen of Octopus is described which has only seven arms”
  2. Double Tentacle Bifurcation in Moroteuthis ingens reported by Gonzalez and Guerra in JMBA.
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  3. A decapodous Octopus briareus reported by Toll and Binger (1991)
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  4. Super crazy branching in Japanese Octopuses reported by Okada (1965)
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  5. Henry the Hectapus
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2 Replies to “Cephalopod Freak Show”

  1. Thanks, Craig. While I always find your cephalopod posts entertaining, I’m afraid that your new upstart has raised, er, lowered the bar considerably with his last posting on the reproductive lives of bone-eating worms. Now, if we just played around with your “double tentacle bifurcation”… on second thought, scratch that idea!

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