The Common Caribbean octopus on the prowl at night, looking for food. While the octopus has eight sucker-equipped arms, the squid actually has ten. Eight of the squid arms are of the same length, while the other two are extra long, and are used for helping to grab prey. These two additional arms are called the tentacles. Many people get confused about the proper plural for the word octopus.
Most people also mispronounce it as well.
I prefer not to use either of them. Our educational film Beneath the South Pacific has some very interesting stuff about mollusks. All illustrations, images and text on this page copyright 1997 Oceanic Research Group. For non-profit educational uses only.