Baby octopus found in Solent (From Daily Echo)

Baby octopus found in Solent

5:57pm Thursday 31st January 2008 in News By Echo Reporter

A BABY octopus has been rescued from the Solent after being accidentally trawled up in the nets of a fishing boat.

The 20cm long common octopus has been named Osbourne at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Hampshire where he has been taken to recover.

Osboure appears in good condition and is recovering in a special quarantine tank.

Experts at the aquarium in Southsea say it's extremely unusual for this species of octopus to be found so far north, particularly in January when sea temperatures are close to their lowest point.

Blue Reef curator James Wright said: "As far as we can discover it's very rare indeed for a common octopus to be found alive in this part of the country and it remains something of a mystery as to how he came to be here.

"Despite his experience Osborne appears fit and healthy and we're hoping to get him to start feeding in the next few days. We're keeping him in a tank where the temperature is closer to that he would experience in the Mediterranean," he added.

Bizarrely the octopus' unexpected arrival coincides with the aquarium's Suckers Weekend - an event dedicated to the amazing world of the cephalopod family.