Astonished Korean fishermen have pulled a 32-legged octopus from the ocean.

The men caught the many-limbed specimen while fishing off the coast of Goseong County in southern South Korea’s South Gyeongsang Province on Tuesday, 15th June.

As fishing octopus is prohibited during this time of year, the men were about to throw the mollusc back into the water when they suddenly realised it was no ordinary specimen.

Upon counting, they realised the octopus had a remarkable 32 limbs, which appeared to grow out of its original eight like the branches of a tree.

As it was a rare sight, the men decided to keep the octopus instead, and they took a photo of the unusual-looking specimen, which they shared with local media.

According to experts, such cases can occur when the octopus’ limbs are wounded and then so-called ‘overgeneration’ occurs during the healing process.

It is believed to be the first time an octopus with 32 limbs has been spotted. However, the record belongs to a specimen with an astounding 96 legs discovered off Japan in 1998.

The previous record had belonged to another octopus caught off the coast of Japan in 1957, which had 85 legs.

Incidentally, South Korea and Japan are the two countries where eating live octopus is a delicacy, despite the danger of the suckers getting stuck to the inside of the throat and causing an obstruction, which can cause death due to choking.

It is not clear which of the 300 species of octopuses the latest specimen belongs to.