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Octopus vulgaris
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
Octopus vulgaris
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
Octopus vulgaris
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
Octopus vulgaris, brooding eggs
I SEE the sleeping babe, nestling the breast siphon of its mother;
The sleeping mother and babe—hush'd, I study them long and long.
Walt Whitman
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
Isn't the strict Latin translation "common"?
The German translation in the old-fashioned way is "gemein" which has the more common meaning "mean, not nice".
I always wondered why the mean fruit-fly was so mean ^^
John is right. The meaning of vulgaris is commom. Somehow (elitist thinking, maybe) vulgar has been conflated to gruesome or disgusting. Not only in English but also in most Romance languages. Well, another curious Linnean adjective is "officinalis" (in the sense of pharmacist's office).
I expect you will only find easy going Romans here.
In taxonomy, vulgaris may mean 'common,' but in classical Latin, I'm almost positive it means 'of the people.' In fact, root 'vulg-' is directly related to germanic 'folk.'
The People's Octopus. Lol.
Yes! The People's Octopus. Looking a bit self-satisfied whilst meditating on Cephalopod superiority and pretending to be a piece of rock.
"Nothing vulgar"? Look at those bright flashy light spots -- quite vulgar. A refined octopus does not draw attention to himself. Now be a dear and pour us some tea.
#7: how stereotypical.
I've also seen "vulgar" or anything with that sort of sound in many languages meaning "common".
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/shr1360l.jpg
Funny - in my mental dictionary "vulgar" means roughly the same thing as "gaudy". Certainly nothing like "gruesome" and "disgusting" is a stretch.
I just came across this octopus on a TED talk this week. It has the most amazing camouflage I can imagine. I was absolutely dumbfounded by it. See it at about 4:20 onwards here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/206