The octopus (Octopus vulgaris and related species) has an estimated 500 million neurons distributed across its central brain and eight semi-autonomous arms — the highest neuron count documented for any invertebrate, roughly comparable to some small vertebrates, and unusual in that roughly two-thirds of these neurons reside in the arms rather than the central brain.
The question, scope, and sources behind this Registry record.
The octopus (Octopus vulgaris and related species) has an estimated 500 million neurons distributed across its central brain and eight semi-autonomous arms — the highest neuron count documented for any invertebrate, roughly comparable to some small vertebrates, and unusual in that roughly two-thirds of these neurons reside in the arms rather than the central brain.
The largest estimated total neuron count in the central nervous system of any invertebrate species, based on stereological or genomic-based neuron counting studies.
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Current frontiers derived from accepted Claims.
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The frontier as it changed over time.
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1 accepted Claim, with 1 linked evidence records.
Permanent ID limitsregistry.com/limits/LR-MOST-NEURONS-INVERTEBRATE
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Limits Registry. LR-MOST-NEURONS-INVERTEBRATE. Invertebrate with the most neurons in its nervous system. 2026.