I wasn't aware of these before (although I bet many of you were):

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/03/dicyemid_mesozoa.php

I read all through the "discussion" to see if the questions I had were answered. Some were addressed, but without answer. Is this parasite a concern for the octo's health and are they extremely common? Just being rhetorical Monty, I don't expect you to have an answer but we know so little about stuff like this in Octos that I wish the author would have made a note about the effects on the host and potential for human hosting.

does anyone know how common these parasites are? I've looked at quite a few kidneys and so far, have had no luck. Are they very hard to see?