Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
last yr.

Four New Deep-Sea Octopus Species Discovered off Costa Rica

One species, the 'Dorado octopus', may have evolved to use warmth from hydrothermal vents to accelerate egg incubation.

A mother octopus broods her eggs near a small outcrop of rock unofficially called El Dorado Hill. When a female octopus broods (which can be a time span of multiple years), she does not eat and dies around the same time that her eggs hatch.
Image

Overview

  • Four new species of deep-sea octopuses were discovered off the coast of Costa Rica during two expeditions in 2023.
  • One of the newly identified species, nicknamed the 'Dorado octopus', is believed to have evolved to use warmth from hydrothermal vents to accelerate the incubation process of their eggs.
  • The Dorado octopus is similar to the pearl octopus, a species found brooding eggs near hydrothermal vents off central California.
  • The other three new species were found farther from the hydrothermal vents, with one of them being an enigma due to its unique features.
  • The expeditions also identified a rare deep-sea skate nursery and three new hydrothermal springs.