How a citizen scientist uncovered a strange kind of octopus that defied everything the experts thought they knew about these enigmatic creatures.

In the late 1970s, Panamanian diver and artist Arcadio Rodaniche observed a mysterious colony of striped octopuses off the coast of Panama. Unlike any octopus previously described, they lived unusually close to their neighbors, shared dens, mated beak-to-beak, laid multiple clutches of eggs without dying, and exhibited unique hunting strategies, all of which went against accepted ideas about how octopuses should behave.

Hear the story of the larger Pacific striped octopus and the man whose discovery was rejected by science for decades. This species has changed our understanding of how octopuses think, perceive their own bodies, and feel pain. These findings raise questions about the controversial practices of farming octopuses for food, displaying them in aquariums, and keeping them as pets.

Octopus X is an underdog story about the power of citizen science to challenge who gets to decide what becomes accepted scientific fact, shedding light on how discoveries are credited or dismissed and how a scientifically nameless species can reveal a previously hidden world of octopuses.

Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is a science writer and currently the Content Manager at Live Science. Her freelance journalism has been featured in National Geographic, Science Friday, Live Science, Scientific American, and New Scientist.