Oberhausen:
Octopus Paul II, successor to the tentacled tipster that wowed theworld with his uncanny knack of correctly predicting World Cup footballgames, was unveiled amid great fanfare in Germany.
The new cephalopod, also named Paul in honour of his world-famouspredecessor who passed away last week, was lowered gently into his tankin a ceremony carried live on national television.
Paul the younger initially appeared more publicity-shy than hismedia-hungry forerunner, sticking closely to the side walls of the tankas the TV cameras rolled.
The aquarium in Oberhausen, western Germany, limited the number ofphotographers allowed into the room, amid hefty interest from aroundthe world.
"We got him from near Montpellier" in southern France, an aquarium employee told AFP.
However, the German aquarium was keen to downplay the possibility thatPaul II will inflict the same pain to bookmakers as Paul I did, to thejoy of punters around the world.
"No one yet knows whether Paul will be able to follow in his footsteps,or rather, his tentacle steps," aquarium spokeswoman Tanja Munzig saidin a statement.
Paul I shot to fame by defying the odds to predict eight successivegames during the recent World Cup in South Africa, including Spain's1-0 triumph against the Netherlands in the
final.
(Video Special: Octopus Paul's predictions) For the prediction, two boxes were lowered into the salty soothsayer'stank, each containing a mussel and the flag of the two opposing teams.
Watched by a myriad of reporters, Paul would head to one box, wrenchopen the lid and gobble the tasty morsel, with the box he plumped forbeing deemed the likely winner.
His astonishing ability made him a global media phenomenon. His laterpredictions were carried live on rolling news channels in Germany.
He died peacefully in his sleep aged nearly three on October 26,sparking hundreds of messages of condolence from his 60,000-strongFacebook fan club and some less serious comments.
(In Pics: Octopus Paul passes away)