I will be naming a few computers in a project. I was thinking of names of octopuses (or whatever the plural form is). Does anyobody know any not too long latin names of octopuses?

Is the name of this octopus Hapalochlaena lunulata?
http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/displayimage.php?&pos=-233

Thats right, its a blue ring

What a lovely theme for your network! The French philosophers and Star Wars characters that my tech person works with cannot compete, no matter how much I like to hear "JarJar is dead."

Bimaculoides and briareus are the most common species in TONMO community home tanks right now. Dolfleini is bigger.

Are you stuck on octos or would squid and cuttlefish be acceptable? Sepia officianalis is a cuttle. Dosidicus, Architeuthis and Mesonychoteuthis are big squids. What genus is the nautilus?

You'll find more, possibly even with correct spelling, throughout the site. Try the Tree of Life site, too.

Melissa

Haliphron atlanticus
Octopus macropus
Amphitretus pelagicus
Pareledone framensis

Zillions more listed in the Current Classification of Recent Cephalopoda (http://www.mnh.si.edu/cephs/newclass.pdf).

O. vulgaris!!!!! Goooooood little octo!

And not to be picky but they are now called Scientific names rather than latin names as most things are named after people now and have nothing to do with latin at all.

The plural as far as I can tell is Octopusses because it if from the greek meaning foot mouthed or something similar (They have their feet round their mouths) and the greeks didn't have plurals with ii at the end like it is in latin.

Please correct me if I am wrong on this tho!

~Andy

Don't forget our Delphine! Who is a Pinnoctopus cordiformis


J

Is it octopusses or octopuses? :?

Its octopuses, at least thats how I write it :) .

Theres sepia bandensis and latimanus........

Its octopuses, at least thats how I write it :) .

Theres sepia bandensis and latimanus........

Hmmmm I go for 1 octopus, 2 octopus, 3 octopus............! Good for arguments on a cold winters evening :twisted:

J

Is it octopusses or octopuses? :?

I think it's octopi, but it can also be just octopus, octopods, octopoids, octopodes, octopussies, etc etc. I just use octopus.

:welcome: to TONMO, Henlar!

I think the most correct form is octopods. :) But I use octopuses generally. :)

O. vulgaris!!!!! Goooooood little octo!
The plural as far as I can tell is Octopusses because it if from the greek meaning foot mouthed or something similar (They have their feet round their mouths) and the greeks didn't have plurals with ii at the end like it is in latin.


Andy, the best explanation I've heard thus far. I'd never given this consideration until the matter was raised many months ago (this is, to a certain extent, thread or at the very least subject duplication). It is covered somewhere online, and I think you are correct in the spelling 'octopusses' - though for all I know on the subject matter I could be speaking through a hole in my head (I depend on the likes of you folk to ciorrect me in such matters).
O

Actually, "octopusses" is not really a proper pluralization of octopus, since the word is not Latin (if it was it would be "octopi") but Latinized Greek. If you want to be pedantic, it should be pluralized as "octopodes."

Good for arguments on a cold winters evening :twisted:

J

:twisted: Yes, I love those. :twisted:

Actually, you can find an answer to this question.

The preferred plural of octopus in English is actually octopuses (one "s"), at least in the US.

I checked in the current edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. This is based on current usage.

I need to check elsewhere (in the OED) for UK preferences.

Nancy

I believe the plural form most commonly used would be octopuses, but I prefer octopi.

Looks like I was speaking through a hole in my head.

I prefer squid 8)

Here's the British version, which apparently is the same

Definition
octopus
noun [C] plural octopuses or octopi
a sea creature with a soft oval body and eight tentacles (= long arm-like parts)

Thankfully there is no plural of Cthulhu...one is enough :cthulhu:

I still cannot pronounce the singular!

Might I suggest Cthulhooze?

:heee:

Its pronounced ke-tul-hu if im not wrong Steve, who made up that word?Couldn't he have gotten an easier spelling.

I am probably as close to an expert on Cthulhu as you can get, having founded a large chunk of my "career" on 1920's pulp author H.P. Lovecraft's coat tails, as well as forming a rock band that is in large part a Lovecraft homage (including a song called "Jimmy the Squid" which I should probably convert to mp3 for you guys).

kuh-TOOL-oo
or kuh-THOOL-oo

are the most common pronunciations, but it's all beside the point as the word "Cthulhu" is only an approximation of a name that is unpronouncable by human tongues. So pronouncing it "puh-NELL-uh-PEE" is just as correct.

I think our next band shirt is going to be an anatomical diagram of some kind of squid (if I can find a good one that is suitable for silk-screening - I'm guessing there aren't any of mesonychoteuthis).

:cthulhu:

Sorry to add to the digression...
(or am I?) ;)

I think our next band shirt is going to be an anatomical diagram of some kind of squid (if I can find a good one that is suitable for silk-screening - I'm guessing there aren't any of mesonychoteuthis).

:cthulhu:

Sorry to add to the digression...
(or am I?) ;)

Take a look at the science articles. Just hit the Science button up top and scroll down. Kat and Steve gave us an article on giant and colossal squid, complete with scary pictures. :squidaut:

Melissa

:archi: :mesonych:

I still cannot pronounce the singular!

Might I suggest Cthulhooze?

Is Cthulhooze really a latin name. It sounds very english with the -hooze part. :?: