Fractal Octopi

Mary sent me an article from PinkTentacle about instances of mutant octopi in Japan.

These creatures are rare, but every so often an octopus with extra tentacles is discovered. These octopi typically have the usual eight tentacles branching off their trunk. But then the tentacles branch out themselves, and continue to branch out, until you have something like the last specimen: an 84-limbed beast. You end up with a fractal octopus.

These creatures seem to hold their own in the wild. The first photo is of one that lived and even bred in captivity. Morgan has already disabused us of the notion of octopi being uber-intelligent. Rather, they use that abundance of neurons to control their many tentacles. I imagine those same neurons were working over time to coordinate all these extra limbs.

Thanks for the link, James, Mary, and Annica.

Photo source: PinkTentacle.com