A remotely operated dive near the Galápagos in 2015 captured a roughly 10-centimeter, fully grown dark blue octopus no human had seen before. Researchers named it Microeledone galapagensis and used micro-computed tomography to describe it as the first octopus
Nearly 1,800 meters beneath the surface of the Pacific, a remotely operated submersible crept along the slope of a Galápagos seamount. Its camera caught a tiny, dark blue octopus perched in the sediment — an animal no human had seen before.
Researchers have named the species Microeledone galapagensis. It’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. and it was also fully grown. a combination that may help it reproduce faster than larger relatives. Biologist Janet Voight and colleagues describe the findings in a report published May 25 in Zootaxa.
The encounter dates to 2015, during a 10-day research expedition. “It’s like those little plushies that kids put on their backpacks,” one of the researchers said in a recording of the dive.
After the submersible brought the octopus to the surface, the team shipped it to the Field Museum in Chicago. There, scientists analyzed the specimen using micro-computed tomography, building 3-D models of organ systems used to tell species apart. The team says it is the first octopus species described using CT scanning alone — CT scanning that allowed researchers to confirm the new species without dissection.
That mattered because, during their expedition, the team saw four likely members of the species, yet captured only one.
The discovery came from the seafloor off the Galápagos, at almost 1,800 meters beneath the sea surface. The individual is not a juvenile. It is a fully grown adult with a complete set of arm suckers and 13 eggs in its ovaries.
Voight, a curator at the Field Museum, says the octopus’s small size may be an adaptation. A juvenile-sized body, she argues, “could increase the rate of reproduction” by shortening the time from hatching to first eggs. Being small might also help the animal escape predators.
Her team also points to the animal’s anatomy for clues to how it feeds. Voight says its short. stubby arms might be built for digging. and that this foraging style may be connected to its coloration — a pale body with dark blue arms and webbing. “When the octopus is digging in the sediment for prey, she may stimulate those prey items to bioluminescence,” she says. The dark webbing, Voight adds, might shield that light from predators while the octopus eats. After swallowing, pigment cells inside the body could block any glow from within.
The researchers also see hints that the species may not be unique to the Galápagos. Only one other species in the genus is known, found in waters off New Caledonia in the South Pacific, suggesting other relatives might live in the broad stretch of ocean between the two places.
Voight places the find in a larger frame of exploration and surprise. “The Pacific Ocean is unimaginably immense, and every part of it contains animal life from the surface to the seafloor,” she said. “This specimen highlights that unknown diversity.”
Galápagos seamount Pacific Ocean octopus Microeledone galapagensis micro-computed tomography CT scanning Zootaxa Field Museum deep-sea discovery
So wait it’s “fully grown” and the size of my palm?? The ocean is wild lol
I saw something about this on TikTok and it said they found a brand new octopus. But like… did they just name it after the camera or what? Also 1,800 meters is insane, I can’t even imagine.
Microeledone galapagensis sounds fake, like that’s not a real name. If they used CT scans only, then how do they know it’s not just a weird mutation of a known species? Sounds kinda convenient for a “new” discovery.
The article says it was fully grown and had eggs?? So basically it was pregnant already?? Also the whole “no human had seen before” thing—does that mean no one ever looked down there at all? Cuz Galápagos people look at stuff all the time… just saying.