If you think zero legs is confusing, prepare to have your brain gently unspooled. Some octopuses, like the adorable Dumbo octopus, are named after a flying elephant—and not just because it’s cute. It has two fin-like structures that look like ears, but those aren’t legs either. Everything is an arm. Even the bits that look like they should be legs.
And here’s where the comedy kicks in: an octopus can use its two back arms as “legs” to push itself along the seafloor. It’s like a tiny, eight-armed spider that decides, “Today, I’ll walk on these two, and the other six will wave hello.” That’s not walking; that’s interpretive dance. So, you could say an octopus has zero legs, eight arms, and zero respect for human categories.
Octopus External Anatomy
But let’s not stop there. What about the nautilus, that curly-shelled cousin? It has like ninety tentacles. Ninety! And a squid has ten arms—two of which are extra-long and grabby, called tentacles. So, next time someone says “octopus has eight legs,” you can look them dead in the eye and whisper, “You’re confusing it with a squid. Amateur.” Then walk away dramatically.
