Odd suckers: Octopus species that's weirdly social, romantic

[...] biologists have rediscovered a species of that eight-arm sea creature that's even stranger and shares some of our social and mating habits.

With their shifting shapes, mesmerizing eyes, and uncanny intelligence, octopuses "are one of the most mysterious and captivating species," said Rich Ross, a senior biologist at the California Academy of Sciences.

The critters just didn't fit the loner denizen-of-the-deep profile that scientists had drawn for the rest of the 300 or so octopus species.

While other females lay one batch of eggs and then die, the female of this species lives longer and produces eggs constantly, bettering the species chance of survival, Ross said.

The octopus, normally a dull chocolate brown, suddenly sports stripes and spots when it gets excited or upset, said Roy Caldwell of the University of California, Berkeley.

The species is preliminarily called the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus, although it's really not much bigger than a tennis ball — just bigger than a similar species.