A Texas mom is concerned after she says an octopus at the San Antonio Aquarium left bruises on her 6-year-old son’s arm.

According to the mother, Britney Taryn , the aquarium has always allowed guests to touch the octopus, dating back to November of 2024. Her son has visited the octopus, a Giant Pacific Octopus named Cthulhu , many times.

“They’re allowed to touch them, and it’s welcomed,” she said in a video she posted to TikTok about the incident, which has since gone viral. “He would sit there and touch and talk to the octopus until we cut him off.”

During the visit in question, Taryn and her son noticed the octopus had grown quite a bit since they last saw it, and its behavior had changed. While the octopus usually put its tentacles on her son and then released him, that’s not

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