Octopus popular on Web and menus

SHANGHAI - World Cup fever may be fading, but now there's a new fever rising over an eight-legged sea creature with a knack for football forecasting.

Paul, the oracle octopus that won worldwide attention by perfectly predicting the outcome of World Cup games, has boosted sales for some online vendors and has been the source of increased octopus consumption in restaurants.

By Tuesday, vendors had released more than 150 products on online retailer taobao.com with "Paul the octopus" in the description, and the items - including furniture, toys, snacks, computer gadgets and clothes - are selling fast.