Ever imagined an Octopus with more than 8 legs? Well imagine no further..
A shocking and rare nine-legged octopus has been discovered off the coast of Japan. This unusual creature was caught in Shizugawa Bay in the town of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, on 13 November 2020.
This phenomenal creature was caught by a fisherman, who only noticed the bonus leg of the creature when he was boiling it, Imagine! He then went on to subsequently contact the Minamisanriku Nature Center (MNC).
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Takuzo Abe, a researcher at the MNC, said apparently octopuses have the ability to regenerate limbs that are severed, so it is possible this ninth leg was added when the creature was healing a wound, and it so happened to grow out from another part of the Octopus.
The octopus has now been preserved in alcohol and put on display at the MNC, for everyone to see this amazing rare moment in life. The Mainichi, 46-year-old Takuzo said:
(This octopus) is a phenomenon demonstrating the diversity of natureI want to leave this for posterity and use it to get more people to know about the abundant nature of Shizugawa Bay. I hope it becomes an opportunity for people to learn about the abundant mysteries of the ocean.
Meanwhile, in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, beachgoers were recently urged to stay far away from a washed up curled octopus. This octopus, that was dubbed Curly the Kraken, set up residence on the north prom shoreline at the beach a fortnight ago.
But with it not being completely safe there on the shore, there were concerns it may be harassed by people or dogs, as its arrival had already started to attract crowds.
The Resort manager, Scott Snowden, has been great enough to say the creature must be protected and has told visitors to keep their distance.
Snowden said:
It is quite a rarity to have one on our doorstep. We would urge people to respect nature and let it enjoy its natural habitat. Unfortunately, we have had dogs trying to disturb it and my big worry is the number of people gathering to have a look. We all have a duty to keep a social distance and that includes from the octopus. There have been some quite large groups and we cannot have that in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The responsible thing to do is to leave it to its natural ways.
Let's just say we see and learn new things everyday.