What do you call a tiny octopus with big eyes, gelatinous skin and is cute as a button? Stephanie Bush of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute aims to classify and name this presently undescribed deep-sea cephalopod using preserved specimens and a clutch of eggs hatch housed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Learn more about Opisthoteuthis Adorabilis in the informative video below by Science Friday.
“I don’t see any obvious reason why it would be inappropriate … it’s easy to pronounce and popular with the public.”
Stephanie Bush tells the AFP. She says only 12 individuals have been studied so far and they have all been female. The unnamed octopus is a form of Flapjack octopus and wouldn’t be the first species named ‘adorabilis’. For example there is a White-crested Coquette hummingbird called Lophornis adorabilis.
Bush is currently trying to incubate a batch of octopus eggs in her laboratory, but they develop very slowly due to the cold temperature of the deep ocean and may not hatch for two or three years! Bush also states that the Opisthoteuthis eggs depicted in the above video are preserved specimens, not the eggs laid at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (which are still being incubated at MBARI’s Cold Storage Facility).
