Inky the octopus legs it to freedom from NZ aquarium

[Mrs Miggins]

...despite PETA's attempt to rebrand them as sea kittens.

What the actual fuck is that supposed to be? Are they serious?? Have they got a particularly dumb teen to come up with that campaign?? That is truly bloody awful. I've got half a mind to contact them to ask them to bloody well explain themselves

 

[NoXion]

Hmmm. That was thought about birds at one time. And like birds, the more we discover about fish abilities, the more impressive they appear. Cooperative hunting by sharks is one example.

Sharks may well be among the smarter fishes much as corvids are the smarter birds, but pigeons are pretty damn brainless.

 

[krtek a houby]

Calamari is usually squid, not octopus. I eat squid about once a fortnight, Octopus less frequently, it's more difficult to come by.

How about cuttlefish? That's not half bad.

 

[Epona]

How about cuttlefish? That's not half bad.

I like it, but for some reason it is not readily available round here - I have enough trouble getting squid!

 

[krtek a houby]

I like it, but for some reason it is not readily available round here - I have enough trouble getting squid!

We tend to go to a Chinese market in West London near us - they have it in the frozen section - squid and cuttlefish.

 

[DotCommunist]

this has octopi IN SPAAAAAAAACE

I don't normaly rate baxter but I recall liking this

 

[krtek a houby]

this has octopi IN SPAAAAAAAACE

I don't normaly rate baxter but I recall liking this

Ooh; I saw that in one of the charity shop the other day - must check if it's still there

 

[Epona]

We tend to go to a Chinese market in West London near us - they have it in the frozen section - squid and cuttlefish.

Ah, unfortunately we lack Chinese markets/shops in this part of East London.

One thing I am always baffled about is how clams aren't really that popular here, and it can be really difficult to find fresh ones - there is a big clam industry in the UK, and we export most of it to the US.

 

[dessiato]

Mrs D cooks octopus tentacles. She slow cooks them for several hours in the crockpot. Then serves it in a salsa verde, the recipe for which she got from a Portuguese friend. The tentacles melt in the mouth and delicious.

I do squid strips in a so-called popcorn style. They take one or two minutes and are amazing.

 

[krtek a houby]

Ah, unfortunately we lack Chinese markets/shops in this part of East London.

One thing I am always baffled about is how clams aren't really that popular here, and it can be really difficult to find fresh ones - there is a big clam industry in the UK, and we export most of it to the US.

There's a Loon Fung branch in Silvertown - don't know if that's far to go for you...

 

[Epona]

There's a Loon Fung branch in Silvertown - don't know if that's far to go for you...

Yeah that's too far away. (or, possibly more importantly, is not in between home and work for either of us).

 

[andysays]

Yet they're called cephalopods. Given this and the fact that functionally octopus limbs serve as both arms and legs, I think that the thread title is fine as it is.

Slugs and snails are called gastropods, but that doesn't mean they have legs. The pod bit means foot, as I'm sure you know.

Maybe the title should be "...octopus hot-foots it to freedom"

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Slugs and snails are called gastropods, but that doesn't mean they have legs. The pod bit means foot, as I'm sure you know.

Maybe the title should be "...octopus hot-foots it to freedom"

So they have arms with feet at the end of them?

 

[NoXion]

It's almost as if molluscs have a completely different body plan to tetrapods, innit?

 

[andysays]

So they have arms with feet at the end of them?

They don't actually have feet in the sense that you or I (or any number of vertebrate or arthropod species) have feet, but their name is derived from the Greek word meaning foot.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

They don't actually have feet in the sense that you or I (or any number of vertebrate or arthropod species) have feet, but their name is derived from the Greek word meaning foot.

right.

So they don't actually have arms in the sense that you or I have arms either.

And they can run around on their limbs.

So they're kind of leg-like, in some respects, one might say.

 

[Epona]

I think it's entirely reasonable that the Greek fishermen who were pulling them out of the water took a look at them and realised they had 8 long appendages, and consequently called them Octopodi (even though modern biologists reckon they have 6 "legs" and 2 "arms").

 

[andysays]

right.

So they don't actually have arms in the sense that you or I have arms either.

And they can run around on their limbs.

So they're kind of leg-like, in some respects, one might say.

No, they don't have arms in the sense that you or I do either (we're each making an assumption here about the other, but I think we can get away with it), but my original point was that the limbs/appendages which octopuses have are generally referred to as arms rather than legs, and that the Guardian headline from which the title of this thread was derived is therefore incorrect.

It's all just a bit of armless fun though...

 

[sim667]

Octopi escaping from tanks is really common.

I wanted to get one in a tank, and read that they often climb out of their tanks.

I also realised how cruel it is to keep them in captivity in the home, it normally shortens their life by about 75%

GO INKY!

 

[sim667]

Cephalopods apparently.

Cephalopods cover a wider range," predatory molluscs" so squid too.

 

[Idris2002]

 

[trabuquera]

passionately argued piece from the American academic left (sort of) saying don't anthropomorphize Inky as it ignores his true identity as a cephalopod ...
Inky the Octopus’s Amazing Escape Is Not Even the Most Amazing Thing About Him

 

[Orang Utan]

Octopi are such cool creatures. I always find it a bit weird that my OH will happily eat an octopus but objects to people eating a bit of cow. I can understand vegetarianism (I was vegetarian myself for a long time), but I don't really get pescetarinism, when you look at something as cool as an octopus.

I guess the difference could be that octopus are not intensively reared. It depends on why he is a veggie, I guess.

 

[editor]

How can you eat octopuses, you savages?

 

[ignatious]

How can you eat octopuses, you savages?

Hundreds of recipes available. Just use Google!

 

[A380]

How can you eat octopuses, you savages?

They are good for catering for parties; everyone gets a leg.

 

[A380]

Apparently, Octopuses are deemed to be 'honorary vertebrates' under EU law. I didn't know this but now I do.

Another reason to vote 'stay' in my book.

The Octopus: Honorary Vertebrate?

 

[Pugnax]

I guess the difference could be that octopus are not intensively reared. It depends on why he is a veggie, I guess.

Yeah. I'm veggie, but if push came to shove I'd much rather eat a wild, intelligent animal than a farmed 'stupid' one. I generally think the whole argument around an animals intelligence justifying how badly we can treat them extremely arrogant and short sighted (as if we have any idea about the range of feeling and suffering that exists seperate from our generally limited pov) and it doesn't relflect well at ALL on how we treat each other.

 

[Pugnax]

Anyway, octopuses are so fucking cool even though they're probably the most scary animal I can think of. Squishy, sucker covered spider-snake things that live in the abyss. Can't really think of anything worse than being underwater and feeling a tentacle wrapped around my arm. Could watch videos of them doing their thing all day though.

 

[Humberto]

Anyway, octopuses are so fucking cool even though they're probably the most scary animal I can think of. Squishy, sucker covered spider-snake things that live in the abyss. Can't really think of anything worse than being underwater and feeling a tentacle wrapped around my arm. Could watch videos of them doing their thing all day though.

They also have a razor sharp beak. And they can be massive.