Octopus with 96 tentacles

This octopus has 88 extra tentacles. The rare specimen is on display at the Shima Marineland Squarium. From Pink Tentacle:

The preserved octopus actually has the normal number of 8 appendages attached to its body, but each one branches out to form the multitude of extra tentacles. Apparently there is no theory that fully explains the surplus tentacles, but they are believed to be the result of abnormal regeneration that occurred after the octopus suffered some sort of injury.

Extra-tentacled octopus (Pink Tentacle, thanks Nat!)

[#1 posted by nmcvaugh, July 22, 2008 9:04 AM]

C'thulhu fhtagn!

[#2 posted by Anonymous, July 22, 2008 9:10 AM]

Fractal Octopus would be a great name for a techno band.

[#3 posted by doug117, July 22, 2008 9:10 AM]

It's into fractals.

[#4 posted by midknyte, July 22, 2008 9:20 AM]

fractalpus

[#5 posted by hassan-i-sabbah, July 22, 2008 9:23 AM]

Can I just be first to say.
We salute our many tentacled overlords....
(ahh the banality of teh interweb!)

[#6 posted by Daemon, July 22, 2008 9:26 AM]

#1: You beat me to it!

[#7 posted by Takuan, July 22, 2008 9:28 AM]

we warned his parents about acid, but noooo.

[#8 posted by Daemon, July 22, 2008 9:30 AM]

Oh, wait... I just noticed this was in Japan. Why doesn't that surprise me?

[#9 posted by DiscipleN2k, July 22, 2008 9:40 AM]

In other news, tomorrow is free calamari day at the Shima Marineland Aquarium!

[#10 posted by David Stein, July 22, 2008 9:43 AM]

#1 and #5 BOTH beat me to it. Glad to see that we geeks are all on the same wavelength. =)

- David Stein

[#11 posted by Duane Wessels, July 22, 2008 10:11 AM]

You mean you didn't immediately think of the 24-tentacled octopus from Schoolhouse Rock's "Three is a magic number?"

[#12 posted by TEKNA2007, July 22, 2008 10:13 AM]

That octopus died of indecision.

[#13 posted by remmelt, July 22, 2008 10:16 AM]

I was only wondering why this was not tagged Cthulhu? What do you mean there is nu Cthulhu tag? I thought this was BoingBoing?

[#14 posted by tofoomeister, July 22, 2008 10:21 AM]

"TWO OCTPUSES GOT MARRIED AND WALKED DOWN THE AISLE ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM IN ARM."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/sitbv3/reader?ie=UTF8&p=S001&asin=0027180905

[#15 posted by Anonymous, July 22, 2008 10:23 AM]

E.T., the Extra Tentacle.

[#16 posted by Takuan, July 22, 2008 10:27 AM]

echolalia...echolalia...echolalialalialalia...echoechoecholalalia
.............echolalia

[#17 posted by Takuan, July 22, 2008 10:29 AM]

hey! speaking of the grotesque, the monstrous and the unexpected: what did you think of Hellboy 2? Loved the Troll Market!

[#18 posted by ROSSINDETROIT, July 22, 2008 10:38 AM]

Hellboy II was great. Best Fantasy based film I've seen in a long time. Thank The Gods for G. Del Toro.

[#19 posted by Takuan, July 22, 2008 10:42 AM]

That Wink character was so seamless in CG I thought of it as an actor throughout. Great work there. The Golden Army didn't quite though.

[#20 posted by ROSSINDETROIT, July 22, 2008 10:50 AM]

It wasn't more than a decade ago that Mike Mignola could be found sitting at a table at a Comic Con chatting with a couple of fans and signing comics. He sold me a Hellboy pin that's still on my motorcycle jacket. It's gratifying that an original talent has been recognized and promoted. I look forward to Hellboy III: The Terrible Twins Arrive.

[#21 posted by SeppTB, July 22, 2008 10:58 AM]

But does it favor one of the 96 tentacles more than the others, and how quickly can it solve a rubik's cube?

[#22 posted by Orchestra Spy, July 22, 2008 11:00 AM]

Thank you toxic pollution.

[#23 posted by jennybean42, July 22, 2008 11:15 AM]

Oh, the hentai?

[#24 posted by Keeper of the Lantern, July 22, 2008 11:58 AM]

They didn't find this octopus near the new accelerator at CERN, did they?

[#25 posted by Miss Cellania, July 22, 2008 12:48 PM]

"Abnormal regeneration"? Sound like a TUMOR!

[#26 posted by WadeFranklin, July 22, 2008 12:57 PM]

Too many tentacles
for one octopus
to be writhing

You're gonna writhe
writhe, writhe, writhe
ninety-six tentacles

[#27 posted by the_boy, July 22, 2008 1:39 PM]

"Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places."

[#28 posted by StrawberryFrog, July 22, 2008 1:55 PM]

"abnormal regeneration", like in the last Doctor Who?

[#29 posted by Wirelizard, July 22, 2008 2:06 PM]

I think my SAN just got lowered...

[#30 posted by Vinylsaurus, July 22, 2008 3:01 PM]

Surely, it is a sign from the FSM. Top that, tortilla Jesus!

[#31 posted by mdhatter, July 22, 2008 4:29 PM]

Kaneda! Help Meeeeeeee!

[#32 posted by keratacon, July 22, 2008 5:22 PM]

Can this be the opposite of a unicorn chaser from now on?

[#33 posted by Neuron, July 22, 2008 5:59 PM]

You can get an understanding of how something like this can happen by reading Sean Carroll's Endless Forms Most Beautiful.

[#34 posted by the specialist, July 22, 2008 8:38 PM]

Eeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

[#35 posted by cha0tic, July 23, 2008 4:53 AM]

MUTANT!

[#36 posted by DocFish, July 26, 2008 3:18 PM]

hmmm wonder if he was left or right tentacled?