Scientists have discovered what may be a completely new species of octopus – and it’s absolutely adorable.
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For several years, the Okeanos Explorer-the only federally-funded USA ship built to explore Earth’s oceans purely for science-has been traveling the world, deploying its ROV to shine a spotlight on some of the darkest corners of the ocean floor, and live-streaming video footage to two-legged mammals with internet connections. Its mission was to explore an area in the Hawaiian Archipelago to gather information about the sea floor between Necker Island and Necker Ridge. Instead, the crew was collecting geological samples.
As the ROV travelled over a flat area of rock and sediment 4,290 metres down, it came a across a fascinating little octopod (octopus) resting on a flat rock dusted with a light coating of sediment.
According to NOAA, “the appearance of this animal was unlike any published records and was the deepest observation ever for this type of cephalopod”. A distinctive characteristic was that the suckers were in one, rather than two, series on each arm.
He says the octopus “did not seem very muscular” and was light colored.
Its lack of chromatophores gave it a ghost-like appearance. “It is nearly certainly a new species”, he says. Some have suggested naming the creature Casper, because of its striking resemblance to the friendly cartoon ghost. This little octopod belongs to a species that has never been recorded before, and he’s also hanging out way deeper than any of his known cousins.
Vecchione said the data would be combined with observations from a German cruise in the eastern Pacific, ahead of a published study on the subject.
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In this video you can see the fascinating white octopus, probably a new species, moving about on the seabed at a depth of 4,290 metres.
