With sea stars crowned as this year's Salish Sea Idol, the Sidney aquarium is leaning on those names to dub its newest cephalopod.

The new Pacific octopus, weighing in at 2.7kg (six pounds) arrived mid-December as the latest through the revolving door of eight-legged ambassadors at the Shaw Centre For the Salish Sea.

While in care at the centre, aquarists devise a series of enriching challenges for octopi, such as putting their food inside boxes, forcing them to look for their food, keeping them on their toes (or tentacles) until their return to the wild. They also get names. The latest, Cassian, is already back cavorting in the sea.

The newest will be a star 鈥� voted on in-person by visitors 鈥� and honouring the sea star as the winners of the Salish Sea Idol fundraising competition in December. The marine invertebrates beat out fellow finalists, the bald eagle, humpback whale and salmon. Sea star earned $4,664 in votes (people voted by donation) with the campaign overall raising $26,567 for the centre, including donation matching by philanthropists Murray and Lynda Farmer.

鈥淲e would like to extend our gratitude for every single contribution, share and 鈥榣ike鈥� that helped us highlight four extraordinary residents of the Salish Sea. The funds raised are appreciated and support your community aquarium and learning centre 鈥� the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea,鈥� executive director Pauline Finn said on social media.

Visit the Sidney centre to vote for the new sea star name for the latest octopus ambassador: Minnie (Patiria miniata, bat star); Sunny (sun star); Cookie (cookie star); Rae (six ray star); Eva (Evasterias troschelii, mottled star); Sandy (sand star); Tess (Pteraster tesselatus, slime star); or Rose (rose star).

Visit for admission information.