Octopus Garden

[Phlapp]

What is an octopus garden and what is its purpose?

[xyzzyplugh]

i think it's a kind of sanctuary searched for buy the Beatles in their Yellow Submarine and found. A shangrilaic, aquatic kind of Eden..

[bluedolphin]

I'd like to be, under the sea, in an octopusses garden in the shade..... Somewhere to relax????

[Squirrel]

I don't think octopuses (octopi?) have ever been seen pruning the seaweed or mowing the sand. "Octopus's garden" is probably just meant to be a funny way of saying "way down under the sea".

...Like saying "Luxembourg is right on Germany's doorstep".

[Lennon]

The Beatles song came from when Ringo was on a boating holiday in Sardinia and was talking to the captain. The captain was telling Ringo about how the Octopus live, and explained that they make what is known as an Octopus's Garden, which is basically the perimeters that surround the holes they live in, such as rocks to keep away predators and other fish coming into their abodes! So with the help of George, he wrote a song about it, but obviously most of the song was fantasy.

[Squirrel]

Lennon, of course, has the real answer!

[Lennon]

Why thank you Squirrel! :)

[Cephkid]

An "Octopuses Garden" are areas on/nearby/part of a coral reef that is actually not named because of octopi, but an extremely high abundance of "octocorals", or soft corals. They are called "octocorals" because each polyp has 8 nematocysts(stinging cells, skeletal bases called pinnules), creating a distinct shape on the skeleton. This is also why they are not simply called soft corals, as stony corals have 6. I, personally, have found Octopuses gardens to be a rather interesting area to dive, as every time I have gone to one, I have seen something different- even a turtle who was passing through.