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COURTESY NOAA, HOHONU MOANA 2016
This ghostlike octopod is almost certainly a newly discovered species and may not belong to any described genus, experts say.
Scientists say they have discovered what might be a new species of octopus while searching the Pacific Ocean floor near the Hawaiian Islands.
On Feb. 27, a team found a small, light-colored octopus at a depth of about 2-1/2 miles in the ocean near Necker Island, said Michael Vecchione of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The octopus did not have fins and all of its suckers were in one row on each arm, Vecchione said.
The octopus “did not seem very muscular” and was light colored, he said.
“This resulted in a ghostlike appearance, leading to a comment on social media that it should be called Casper, like the friendly cartoon ghost. It is almost certainly an undescribed species,” he said in a statement posted last week on the NOAA website, 1.usa.gov/1oXarVu.
It’s unusual to find an octopus without fins so deep in the ocean, said Vecchione, who said that the previous depths at which an octopus without fins was found were all less than 4,000 meters, or 2-1/2 miles.
Two scientists he has consulted “agreed that this is something unusual and is a depth record,” said Vecchione, who is with NOAA’s National Systematics Laboratory.
The octopus was discovered during a search of the ocean floor by a remotely operated vehicle from NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer, he said.
‘Casper’ is really there!
See the eyes? It’s an alien
The articles I’ve read do not give credit to the scientists who first observed it with the remotely operated vehicle, Dr. Frank Parrish and Dr. Christopher Kelley. I know their voices, which I heard on one of the videos. Congrats to them.
Thanks for the info. This is a neat discovery.
Aw, he’s cute.
OK admit it – how many of you guys wondered if it would make good poke?
Let’s have it be posed to the posse — The big Q: would we rather have this Casper Octopus or our Rail?
Forget it. The rich Japanese are already thinking how to get their filthy hands on this, no matter the cost. They’ll extinct this whitey in no time as they are doing to every other ocean species. For all their cute manners, the Japanese have absolutely no remorse about killing off seafood, made worse by their penchant for eating raw eggs.
Wow! Those NOAA scientists are really good — calling up a whole new species from a single observation! Not a very “scientific” assertion, really, but it makes good press.
I think the article says “might be.”
As far as I know, it is carbon based life, so we can attempt to consume it. If it is deemed poisonous, we can give it to Trump.