Man found rare six-legged octopus, smashed it to death against rock then ate it for his dinner

An American holidaymaker has told how he caught and ate an octopus on holiday,only to discover it was only the second six-legged specimen ever found. Mechanical engineer Labros Hydras, 49, from Washington DC, pulled the freak creature, dubbed a ‘hexapus’, from the sea as he went snorkelling in Greece.



He followed local tradition by smashing it against a rock to kill it and then took it to a nearby taverna to cook. The chef refused to cook it for him because it was so rare and told Labros he should have let the octopus live. But the hungry father-of-two went and fried it for his supper anyway and served it up with a slice of tomato, lemon and a solitary salad leaf.

After finishing it off he decided to check out what the chef had said – and felt sick when he realised what he had done. No-one had ever heard of a six-legged hexapus until five years ago when one was found off the North Wales coast. That first-ever recorded discovery was taken to Blackpool Sea Life Centre before being released back into the sea. Repentant Labros, is now trying to find out more about the marine mutant.



He is also helping sealife experts in Greece with what he can remember of the catch on Papa Nero beach on Pelion peninsula. Labros, who was snorkelling with daughter Areti, ten, and son Arion, six, said: “It tasted just like a normal octopus but now I feel really bad. When we caught it, there was nothing to suggest it was any different or had been damaged. I thought it had just been born with six tentacles. We go to Greece every year and when we catch an octopus we do the same thing so we just did not think about it.”