The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is an internet hoax created in 1998 by Lyle Zapato.[1] This fictitious endangered species of cephalopod was given the Latin name "Octopus paxarbolis" (which roughly means, "Pacific tree octopus" in Latin). It was purported to be able to live both on land and in water, and was said to live in the Olympic National Forest and nearby rivers, spawning in water where its eggs are laid. Its major predator was said to be the Sasquatch.
The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website is among a number of sites commonly used in Internet literacy classes in schools, although it was not created for that purpose. Despite the falsehoods shown on the site, such as the inclusion of other hoax species and organizations (mixed with links to pages about real species and organizations), 24 of 25 students involved in one well-publicized test believed the content.[2][3]
The tree-climbing octopus was mentioned in Terry Pratchett's novel Nation.
Soon other people began to make fake photos of the tree octopus by editing, or by photographing toys and stuffed animals in a similar "habitat".[4]