Seven-legged octopus? Elusive creature washes up at shore

By Lauren Beavis

One of the world's most elusive sea creatures has washed up on a British beach.

The septopus - the seven-legged octopus - is a species with eight arms like other types - but in males, one of them is also a reproductive organ.

They are very rarely seen but one has now washed up at Forvie National Nature Reserve at Collieston, near Ellon, Scotland.

Arms with rows of suckers were initially discovered by a member of the public in November.

Now two months on further remains of the unusual deep-sea animal have been discovered on a beach in Aberdeenshire.

After some detective work by conservationists, experts were able to determine the identification of the animal as a septopus.

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Dr. Lauren Smith, marine biologist at Saltwater Life, said: "I went out looking every day for the missing arms and beak that had washed back out with the tide.

"One of the local residents who had first reported the finds sent me a message to say he had just found this piece which must have washed back in on the high tide.

"There has been a lot of speculation as to how the remains ended up where they did - for example, trawl capture and thrown overboard, whale predation, disoriented in the shallows and then predated on and so forth - but it is practically impossible to say for certain."

Dr. Lauren said the level of interest in the rare underwater animal has been "truly incredible".

She explained: "Researchers and museums are interested in genome work, stable-isotope analysis and preservation of the specimens.

"Currently they are all in my freezer however they will be sent off to Aberdeen University, Trace Wildlife Forensics Networks, National Museum Scotland and Natural History Museum London."

The giant seven-armed octopus lives hundreds of meters below the surface of the sea and is one of the world's largest species of octopus.

Also known giant gelatinous octopus or blob octopus, they have eight arms like other types - but in males, one of the arms is also a reproductive organ that they attach to females when mating.