A rare seven-armed octopus was spotted off the coast of California (3 photos + 1 video)
Scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) captured a rare seven-arm octopus at a depth of 700 meters. The animal was eating a jellyfish. 
Off the coast of California, USA, a seven-arm octopus has been spotted for the fourth time in 40 years. The discovery was made by MBARI's oceanographic research center. Researchers filmed the rare octopus at a depth of 700 meters. It was holding a helmet jellyfish in its tentacles and devouring it.
The seven-armed octopus (Haliphron atlanticus) is one of the largest octopus species on the planet. It can reach a length of four meters and weigh around 75 kilograms.
It gets its name from an anatomical feature of the males: their eighth arm (the hectocotylus) is folded into a pouch under the right eye, giving the appearance of having only seven arms.
The hectocotylus functions as a reproductive organ: during mating, it carries spermatophores to the female, after which it can be separated.
