96-Armed Octopus Photographed in Japan, People Wonder If It Is Real

Nature is indeed marvelous with all its wonders on land, sky, or deep in the ocean, just like the viral photo from of a 96-armed octopus captured several decades ago, shocking many people.

In a 2008 report by Pink Tentacle, there lived an octopus in Shima Marineland Aquarium, in the town of Shima, with 96 tentacles weighing 7 lbs (3.3 kg) and measuring about 3 ft (90 cm) long when it was captured near Matoya Bay in December 1998.

The octopus died five months later, but it could lay eggs before that, making it the first multiple-tentacled octopus to do so in captivity. All of its baby octopi hatched with eight tentacles but died a month later.

Multi-Tentacled Octopi Captured In Japan

Some were asking for the authenticity of the photograph of the 96-tentacled octopus, in which authorities confirmed that it is a real octopus that is now on display at Shima Marineland in Japan.

According to Snopes, the octopus has eight regular tentacles but branch off into smaller tentacles, which is 96 arms all in all. Shima Marineland Aquarium posted several photos on their Twitter account last November 23, 2020:

Scientists could not fully explain this phenomenon, but they believe that it could result from atypical regeneration that occurred after the octopus suffered an injury, a process known as bifurcation, which is quite common among the species of octopus.

Similarly, in 1957, an 85-tentacled Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) was also captured at nearby Toshijima Island. Pink Tentacle reported that this remarkable creature was the same as the 96-armed octopus that bifurcated with its eight main tentacles creating branches to form other tentacles to the shock of many people from about half a century ago.

Toba Aquarium has exhibited six other mutant octopi that have between nine to 56 tentacles within that time.

Then in November 2020, a nine-armed octopus was also found by a fisherman in Japan. Shima Marineland flexed the tentacles of the octopus as it is the most recent discovery of a bizarre multiple-armed octopus.

Bizarre Facts About An Octopus

According to Ripleys, one bizarre behavior among the species of octopus in captivity is that they eat their arms when they are bored.

In an environment where these intelligent cephalopods are restricted and do not provide them enough stimulation, they are known to engage in autophagy or the removal of specific organs that are unnecessary.

Another bizarre fact about them is that they also know how to use tools. Scientists have observed them using an empty coconut shell as their mobile home.

Also, an octopus named Billye from the Seattle Aquarium was able to open a jar pill bottle with a snack inside, which took it five minutes to twist and push the jar. But a faster octopus from New Zealand named Ozy opened a jar in just 54 seconds.

Check out more news and information on Octopus on Science Times.