A Nine Limbed Blue-Ringed Octopus Found
A blue-ringed octopus, found by a researcher from the Susami Crustacean Aquarium, is attracting attention for an 
unusual reason – its nine arms.
This is unusual for the simple reason that Octopus do NOT have nine limbs – they have all of eight, which is where they get their name from. However, aquarium head Takuya Mori thankfully, has an explanation, which would save it from being a freak “Octopus arms grow back if they are cut off, and it’s possible that the ninth arm grew out of a wound or from some other stimulus.”
Aquarium researcher Atsushi Hirai found the mysterious mollusk, which measures 12 centimeters in length, while looking for sea creatures late on Dec. 15 last year. Blue-ringed octopuses are small, but they possess a deadly poison, allowing them to feed on crabs and shrimp.
Mori said that a common octopus with 96 arms had been found in Mie Prefecture in the past, but it was the first time he had heard of a blue-ringed octopus with nine arms. [Via]
