A large tentacle washed up on a beach in the UK, and it likely belongs to a rare septopus, also known as a giant gelatinous octopus or blob octopus . . . with locals baffled
A tentacle from a rare seven-arm octopus has washed up on a beach – and it might just be its reproductive appendage. The hefty tentacle was discovered by a passerby at Forvie National Nature Reserve in Collieston, Scotland, last Sunday.
Upon inspection, experts concluded that it likely came from an elusive septopus – a colossal seven-armed octopus. This creature dwells hundreds of metres beneath the sea surface and ranks among the world’s largest octopus species.
Also known as the giant gelatinous octopus or blob octopus, they sport eight arms like their counterparts. However, in males, one of these arms doubles as a sexual organ used to attach to females during mating.
NatureScot’s Forvie National Nature Reserve manager Catriona Reid shared: “We were first made aware that there was something odd on the beach over the weekend, when a local walker spotted part of the octopus on the beach.
“However, we couldn’t get out until after the next high tide, when only sections of the tentacles could be found. These were something we clearly hadn’t seen before, with a large diameter and big suckers – far too big for the common curled octopus we see around the shore here.”
Initially, the team speculated that the creature might have been a giant squid – but this theory was quickly dismissed due to the absence of “teeth” on the tentacle’s suckers. After consulting with nearby specialists, local marine biologists confirmed that the tentacles indeed belonged to the giant gelatinous octopus.
“Speculation was rife that these could even be from a giant squid, but the suckers didn’t have teeth, which giant squid suckers do – a real mystery!” exclaimed Catriona. “So, we all started reaching out to anyone we could think of – Aberdeen Zoology dept, Natural History Museum etc.
“Local marine biologist Lauren Smith, who works for East Grampian Coastal Partnership, collected the tentacles and also – through a friend of a friend – managed to confirm ID as a seven-armed or giant gelatinous octopus.”
The giant gelatinous octopus is one of the largest known species of octopus – with the biggest ever found measuring 11ft long and weighing 165lb.
Given their deep-sea habitat, experts are still scratching their heads over how it ended up on an Aberdeenshire beach.
“These are a deep-water species – usually found below 500m – so it’s a puzzle how it came to be here, as most of the North Sea is shallower than that,” Catriona explained.
“Washed up by deep water currents? Trawled up by fishers? We’ll probably never know, but it’s a fascinating find nonetheless and yet again serve to illustrate how little we know about deep-water creatures.”
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