Recycle artist Masataka Koike creates realistic-looking marine life sculptures from used wooden chopsticks. This octopus, which took eight months to complete, is made of 2,000 chopsticks.
Chopstick octopus
Original post by Edo
In nature, it is quite rare to encounter octopi with extra tentacles (or “arms,” for the purists), but a pair of aquariums in Japan’s Mie prefecture have some extraordinary specimens on hand.
The permanent display at the Shima Marineland Aquarium in the town of Shima includes a 96-tentacled Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) that weighed 3.3 kilograms (about 7 lbs) and measured 90 centimeters (3 ft) long when it was captured in nearby Matoya Bay in December 1998. Before dying 5 months later, the creature laid eggs, making it the first known extra-tentacled octopus to do so in captivity. All the baby octopi hatched with the normal number of tentacles, but unfortunately they only survived a month.
96-tentacled octopus laying eggs
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 […]
Original post by Edo
These oversized octopus stickers on the wall outside the Shibuya Parco building appear to be part of the swimwear display.
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Original post by Edo
It is a common sight in winter to see octopi hanging out to dry along sidewalks in the town of Toba (Mie prefecture), according to the caption for this image from the Toba Photo Gallery.
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Original post by Edo
An octopus with nine tentacles was spotted at the Marusan Seafood Shop in Marugame, Japan (Kagawa prefecture) on October 26, one day after it was caught in the Seto Inland Sea. Masa Koita, the 60-year-old shop manager, noticed the abnormal Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) after he had boiled it in preparation for market. “In 40 years of handling seafood, I’ve never seen an octopus like this,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Akashi Seafood Council in nearby Hyogo prefecture confirmed the unusual nature of the extra-tentacled creature: “In Akashi, we might see one every 20 years or so. They are extremely rare.”
Koita says he will show off the octopus for a few days before selling it to a lucky customer.
[Source: Asahi]
Original post by Edo
This video clip from Japanese TV program “Best House 123″ shows the top three glow-in-the-dark sea creatures selected by Hokkaido University professor Yoshihiro Omiya, a specialist in the study of bioluminescent organisms.
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Original post by Edo
For the love of Cthulhu, here are photos of giant cement octopi posing as playground equipment in Japan.
Original post by Edo
