Charles Darwin Foundation
The little blue octopus seen from the submersible
Scientists from the Charles Darwin Foundation discovered a new species of octopus almost 1,800 meters deep, near the Galápagos Islands, vibrant blue in color and the size of a golf ball, according to an investigation published in the journal Zootaxa.
A team of researchers found a new species of octopus in the seas of the Galápagos Islands, blue like the ocean, but as small as a golf ball.
The new species, named by researchers as Microeledone galapgensiswas first discovered during a 2015 deep-sea expedition aboard the E/V Nautilus, in a collaboration between the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galápago National Park Council.
A remotely operated camera to visually scan the ocean floor at a depth of 1.773 metros, caught a blue flash and zoomed in to locate the small, eight-armed creature, alone in the water.
The video and audio recordings, now released, show scientists’ initial enthusiastic reactions to the mysterious creature: “It’s tiny!”, “It’s blue!“.
The octopus was collected to be cataloged and stored in the collection of the Charles Darwin Scientific Station, where it remained until 2017, when researchers contacted the invertebrate specialist Janet Voightfrom the Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Examining a photograph of the octopus, Voight realized that it was something special, and requested the specimen be sent to be examined, which took five years for the station to approve, with a sample being sent to Chicago in 2022.
The new species of blue octopus has short and thick arms with a single row of suckers, which distinguishes it from most known octopuses, says Voight, lead author of the description of the new species, published this Monday in Zootaxa.
Among other species with short arms and a single row of suckers, this octopus stands out for its color and smooth skin on its backwhere the blue is a light tone while the ventral part is a very dark purple, a color pattern that helps the octopus protect itself.
“If the octopus captures prey that emits light, can attract predators which, in turn, can eat it. The octopus, therefore, copen your prey with your membrane dark, protecting themselves in this way”, states the researcher in the published work.
For the scientist, this dust represents everything that exists in the depths of the ocean and that you don’t even know it exists. “We talk about deep sea mining, but we don’t know what’s there and we’re putting everything at risk,” he warned, praising the “extraordinary things” that exist there.
