How many testicles does an octopus have?

sionnansinn

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I almost feel foolish asking this question but my fascination for the octopus is far more advanced than my humble knowledge of it. I cannot seem to find the answer here. searching elsewhere online the common answer is eight but the diagram of the testes sac does not seem to support this. Also, the common belief is that the male reproductive system is in the head, which goes to show mass ignorance (including mine.lol), as opposed to the mantle. So how many testicles does a male octopus have anyways?
 
Here's a description of the male reproductive tract:
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/175/1038/31.short

The male reproductive tract of Octopus dofleini martini lies enclosed in the genital bag, inside the mantle cavity. It consists of the testis, vas deferens proximale, spermatophoric gland system I (seminal vesicle), spermatophoric gland system II (prostate), vas deferens distale, spermatophoric sac (Needham's sac) and the terminal spermatophoric duct.

Here's a diagram:
Male Reproductive Tract, Spermatophores and Spermatophoric Reaction in the Giant Octopus of the North Pacific, Octopus dofleini martini on JSTOR
 
OK, I am close to editing the title and content of your initial post. Sorry. I just find its content slightly inappropriate and poorly conceived.

Do you mean tentacles (= none; this is a characteristic of squid) or arms (= 8). They have nothing akin to the mammalian testicle, but they do possess a single testis sac, accommodated within the mantle of the animal. I do not believe that 'common belief' has it that the reproductive system is in the 'head' of an octopus; it is in what some less-familiar folk would refer to as the 'body' (= mantle + head), but most would simply refer to as the 'mantle.'

I have had a bad day, so excuse me if the sincerity of your post has been misinterpreted.
 
Thank you all for your responses. I was being sincere and I was honestly curious.
If you do not believe this is common belief amongst the masses just type in 'where is an octopus testicles located' or 'how many testicles does an octopus have' (and of course there is Jean's link as well) in google and that is all you will get in response including Wiki-answers and all other "authority" sites on answering all sorts of questions. I was just scepticle though and I am glad I found out.
Thank you.
 
No worries sionnansinn - it's good that you asked and the right answer is here in the thread. Don't mind Steve - as he disclaimed he was just grumpy. :smile: We've had a few "trolls" come through with first posts looking to get our goat, and Steve thought this was among them. In all, it's a good thread with good data... and folks will benefit from it going forward. So THANKS!
 
Frazzled be an understatement Jean; I cannot keep up with anything at present. Have resorted to te 'Toyota Corolla' job on most everything, as opposed to what I'd like to do, Rolls Royce. No disrespect to Toyota drivers (I have two myself)
 
I think it's only got one ball. Bit similar to one late German dictator, unfortunately.

Unlike Goring, who had two but which were small and Himmler who had something similar, but at least it's not got the problem that Goebbels had, which was no balls at all.

(Google 'Hitler has only got one ball' if you don't know what I'm talking about! )
 

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