# Attack of the Hexapus
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 3, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953 "2008-03-03T20:17:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/1 "2008-03-03T20:17:27Z")
They caught a six-armed “octopus” off the coast of Wales:
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080303/sc\_afp/sciencebritainanimalhexapusoffbeat](http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080303/sc_afp/sciencebritainanimalhexapusoffbeat)
It’s not that big a deal, since they think this is the result of accident or borth defect, and not a new species.
But it makes me think of Ray Harryhausen’s Quintopus. When he was animating the giant Octopus from **It Came From Beneath the Sea** , he only gave it five arms, figuring that bodody would notice the shortage. They didn’t.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/2 "2008-03-03T20:26:36Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
But it makes me think of Ray Harryhausen’s Quintopus. When he was animating the giant Octopus from **It Came From Beneath the Sea** , he only gave it five arms, figuring that bodody would notice the shortage. They didn’t.
[/QUOTE]
Should that be “pentapus”? – Greek+Greek, rather than Latin+Greek. But “hexapus” is right, though biology already has [Hexapods.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexapoda)
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/3 "2008-03-03T21:01:03Z")
[QUOTE=Giles]
Should that be “pentapus”? – Greek+Greek, rather than Latin+Greek. But “hexapus” is right, though biology already has [Hexapods.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexapoda)
[/QUOTE]
There’s nothing wrong with mixing Latin and Greek elements. Regardless of its provenance, you’re still just _making up a word_ - so why worry too much about keeping it pure?
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/4 "2008-03-04T02:22:10Z")
It’s tentacular!
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/5 "2008-03-04T02:27:10Z")
[QUOTE=Giles]
Should that be “pentapus”?
[/QUOTE]
Not unless you mean five arms, instead of six.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/6 "2008-03-04T03:03:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Not unless you mean five arms, instead of six.
He does – read a bit more closely. It’s referring back to the Ray Harryhausen five-armed "octopus’ model.
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### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/7 "2008-03-04T04:22:21Z")
I thought this was going to be about a six-legged cat.
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### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/8 "2008-03-05T00:55:18Z")
I can’t be the only one reminded of Quest For Glory- Shadows Of Darkness. It had a hexapus or two.
RE Harryhausen
Actually he did it because he estimated a cost of $10,000 per huge mechanical tentacle. The studio would only give him $50,000 more.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/9 "2008-03-05T02:30:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> huge mechanical tentacle
_HUGE mechanical tentacle??_
Based on the size of Harryhausen’s other models, I’ll bet the tentacles were 18" or less in length.
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### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/10 "2008-03-05T02:51:44Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
_HUGE mechanical tentacle??_
Based on the size of Harryhausen’s other models, I’ll bet the tentacles were 18" or less in length.
[/QUOTE]
I’ll take that bet. I’ve been a huge Harryhausen fan since I saw Sinbad as a tot. While most of his work was in Dynamation with small models, the quintapus was a large mechanical effect. It may take me a bit to find a cite. But it’s obvious when you think about it. Would the man who made and animated the medusa of Clash Of The Titans skimp on a detail and hope the audience didn’t notice?
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/11 "2008-03-05T03:12:09Z")
Interesting note:
> [@](#):
>
> Ever budget-conscious, producer Katzman allowed Ray Harryhausen only enough money to animate six of the octopus’ arms and two were cut off. Thus, Harryhausen jokingly dubbed this creature a “sextapus” (Reference: The documentary “The Harryhausen Chronicles”, which is available on the DVDs of various Harryhausen films). The number of arms is incorrectly described as five in various sources, including A Pictorial History of Science Fiction Films, by Jeff Rovin, p. 63, Citadel Press, Secaucus, New Jersey.
from here: [It Came from Beneath the Sea - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Came_from_Beneath_the_Sea)
My copy of **From the Land Beyond Beyond** (also by Rovin) and every other source I’ve seen, pre-internet says that there were five arms. Rovin interviewed Harryhausen, and is photographed with him and his models. It’s hard to believe he got a detail like this wrong. i note that the iMDB says six arms, as well.
Nothing, by the way, in any of my books or on the internet sites I’ve visited gives the size of the model Harryhausen used, and there aren’t any pictures of it outside the movie. But even Harryhausen’s Brontosaurus model from **One Million Years B.C.** only stands about 1 foot tall. I stand by my estimate on the _faux_ctopus.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2008, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-hexapus/439953/12 "2008-03-05T08:49:04Z")
Hmmm… Hexapus, eh?
It’s welcome to join my travelling circus of animal freaks - which already includes the TriDog and the UniHorse.
I’ve got nothing against its six tentacles…