See also:

• OCTOPUS (Gr. brcreo, eight and gobs, foot)

OCTOPUS (Gr. brcreo, eight and gobs, See also:

• FOOT

foot)  , the name in scientific See also:

• ZOOLOGY (from Gr. Nov, a living thing, and ?byos, theory)

zoology belonging to a single genus of eight armed See also:

• CEPHALOPODA

Cephalopoda (q.v.), one of whose distinguishing characters is that it has two rows of suckers on each See also:

• ARM (a common Teutonic word; the Indo-European root is ar, to join or fit; cf. the Lat. armus, shoulder, and the plural word arma, weapons, Gr. apphs, joint, and the reduplicated apapilKSV, to join)

arm . This true See also:

• OCTOPUS (Gr. brcreo, eight and gobs, foot)

octopus occurs occasionally on the See also:

• BRITISH

British coasts, at least the See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south See also:

• COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast, but is usually rare . It is more See also:

• COMMON

common on the See also:

• SOUTHERN

southern coasts of See also:

• EUROPE

Europe, including those of the Mediterranean . The usual See also:

• SPECIES

species of Octopoda on the British south coast is Eledone cirrosa, which has only one See also:

• ROW, JOHN (c. 1525—1580)

row of suckers on each arm, and is a smaller See also:

• ANIMAL
• ANIMAL (Lat. animalis, from anima, breath, soul)

animal . The celebrated See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of the octopus given by See also:

• VICTOR
• VICTOR, GAIUS JULIUS (4th cent. A.D.)
• VICTOR, SEXTUS AURELIUS

Victor See also:

• HUGO, GUSTAV VON (1764–1844)
• HUGO, VICTOR MARIE (1802-1885)

Hugo in his Travailleurs de la mer is not so fictitious as some critics with a knowledge of natural See also:

• HISTORY

history have maintained . It is true that the See also:

• GREAT

great See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French author has made the See also:

• MISTAKE (i.e. take amiss)

mistake of using the name Cephaloptera, which belongs to a large tropical See also:

• FISH (O. Eng. fist, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch visch, Ger. Fisch, Goth. fisks, cognate with the Lat. piscis)
• FISH, HAMILTON (1808-1893)

fish similar to a skate, instead of Cephalopoda, and that he applies the See also:

• TERM

term See also:

• DEVIL (Gr. &a,3oXos, " slanderer," from &ctflisXX sty, to slander)

devil-fish, which belongs to Cephaloptera, to the octopus . His description is exaggerated, imaginative and sensational; but it is correct in its most important particulars, and bears See also:

• EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence that the author was to some extent personally acquainted with the animal and its habits, although he was not a scientific observer . The octopus feeds on crabs, and crabs feed on carrion, and, therefore, there is nothing impossible in Hugo'saccount of the See also:

• SKELETON

skeleton of a drowned See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man surrounded by the shells of See also:

• NUMBERS, BOOK OF
• NUMBERS, PARTITION OF

numbers of crabs which the octopus had devoured . Whether an octopus would attack and kill a man is another question, but it certainly might seize him with its arms and suckers while holding to the rocks by other arms, and a man seized in this way when in the See also:

• WATER

water might be in danger of being drowned . The octopus and many of the Octopoda move about by means of their arms on the See also:

• SEA (in O. Eng. sae, a common Teutonic word; cf. Ger. See, Dutch Zee, &c.; the ultimate source is uncertain)
• SEA, COMMAND OF THE

sea bottom, and are not See also:

• FREE

free-See also:

• SWIMMING (from " swim," A.S. swimman, the root being common in Teutonic languages)

swimming, though like other Cephalopods they can propel themselves on occasion backwards through the water by means of the See also:

• FUNNEL (through an O. Fr. founil, found in Breton, from Lat. infundibulum, that through which anything is poured, from fundere, to pour)

funnel . Other Octopoda, however, are pelagic and free-swimming, and such habits are not confined to those forms which are provided with lateral fins . The Argonaut (see See also:

• NAUTILUS

NAUTILUS) is one of the Octopoda .

The separation of one of the arms of the male for purposes of See also:

• REPRODUCTION

reproduction is one of the most remarkable peculiarities of the Octopoda . It does not occur, however, in octopus nor in many other members of the See also:

• GROUP

group . One arm is always considerably modified in .structure and employed in copulation, but it is only in three genera, one of which is Argonauta, that the arm spontaneously separates . The detached arm is found still alive and moving in the See also:

• MANTLE

mantle cavity of the See also:

• FEMALE

female, and when first discovered in these circumstances was naturally regarded by the older naturalists as a See also:

• PARASITE (From Gr. irapa, beside, Tiros food)

parasite . See also:

• CUVIER, GEORGES LEOPOLD CHRETIEN FREDERIC DAGOBERT, BARON (1769-1832)

Cuvier, on account of the numerous suckers of the detached arm, gave it the name Hectocotylus (See also:

• HUNDRED

hundred suckers) . When the arm is not detached but only altered in structure it is said to be hectocotylized . In Octopus and Eledone it is the third right arm which is hectocotylized . The extremity of this arm is See also:

• EXPANDED

expanded and assumes the shape of a See also:

• SPOON (O. Eng. span, a chip or splinter of wood, cf. Du. spoon, Ger. Spahn, in same sense, probably related to Gr. r4 v, wedge)

spoon . Whether detached or not the modified arm possesses a cavity into which the spermatophores are passed and the arm serves to convey them to the mantle cavity of the female . It has been mentioned above that the true octopus (Octopus vulgaris) is usually rare on the See also:

• ENGLISH

English coast . In 1899 and 1900, however, they became so abundant on the south coast as to attract See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general See also:

• NOTICE

notice, and to constitute a veritable See also:

• PLAGUE (in Gr. Xotµos; in Lat. pestis, pestilentia)

plague which threatened See also:

• COMPLETE

complete ruin to the See also:

• SHELL
• SHELL (O. Eng. scell, scyll, cf. Du. sceel, shell, Goth. skalja, tile; the word means originally a thin flake,. cf. Swed. skalja, to peel off; it is allied to " scale " and " skill," from a root meaning to cleave, divide, separate)

shell-fish See also:

• FISHERIES

fisheries . This visitation and its effects were described by W .

Garstang in the See also:

• JOURNAL
• JOURNAL (through Fr. from late Lat. diurnalis, daily)

Journal of the Marine Biological Association . The abnormal abundance occurred all along the See also:

• WEST
• WEST, BENJAMIN (1738-1820)
• WEST, NICHOLAS (1461-1533)

west coast of See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France, whence it extended to the Channel, and was probably due to a See also:

• SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession of unusually warm summers and mild winters, beginning with the warm See also:

• SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring and hot summer of 1893 . The octopus in the years mentioned entered the See also:

• LOBSTER (O.E. lopustre, lopystre, a corruption of Lat. locusta, lobster or other marine shell-fish; also a locust)

lobster pots of the fishermen and devoured or killed the crabs and lobsters captured . The pots when hauled contained usually only living octopus and the mutilated remains of their victims . One fisherman took in a single See also:

• WEEK (from A.S. wicu, Germanic *wikon, probably=change, turn)

week 64 specimens of octopus and only 15 living uninjured lobsters . The octopus also almost exterminated the swimming crabs (See also:

• PORTUNUS, or PORTUMNUS

Portunus) in See also:

• PLYMOUTH
• PLYMOUTH, EARLS OF

Plymouth See also:

• SOUND
• SOUND, THE (Danish Oresund)

Sound, and in the tanks of the Plymouth See also:

• AQUARIUM (plural aquaria)

aquarium attacked and devoured all the specimens of its smaller relative Eledone cirrosa . With regard to the See also:

• SIZE

size which the octopus may attain, the dimensions of the See also:

• BODY

body are not usually given in records, but it is stated that the arms in the largest specimens measured 31 ft., and in numerous cases were 3 ft. in length . This would enable the eight arms to extend over a circle 6 ft. in See also:

• DIAMETER (from the Cr. &a, through, µErpov, measure)

diameter, but the globular body is not more than about a third of the length of n_ arm in di'ameter . When not in pursuit of See also:

• PREY (0. Fr. preie, mod. proie, Lat. praeda, booty, from prae and the root hed—seen in prehendere, prendere, to grasp)

prey the octopus hides itself in a hole between rocks and covers itself with stones and shells . Like its victims it seems to be active chiefly at See also:

• NIGHT

night and to remain in its See also:

• NEST

nest during the See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day . For a technical account of the Octopoda see CEPHALOPODA; also W . Garstang," The Plague of Octopus on the South Coast, and its Effect on the Crab and Lobster Fisheries," Journ .

See also:

• MAR, EARLDOM OF
• MAR, JOHN ERSKINE, 1ST OR 6TH EARL OF (d. 1572)
• MAR, JOHN ERSKINE, 2ND OR 7TH EARL
• MAR, JOHN ERSKINE, 6TH OR 11TH EARL OF (1675-1732)

Mar . Biol . Assoc. vol. vi . (19oo) p . 260 . (J . T .