Overview
- A peer‑reviewed paper published Monday names the new species Microeledone galapagensis and establishes its formal description in the journal Zootaxa.
- The octopus was first seen and collected by an ROV during a deep‑sea expedition in July 2015 about 1,773 meters below Darwin Island, and video from that mission shows at least two similar animals.
- Scientists relied on high‑resolution micro‑computed tomography at the Field Museum to examine internal organs without dissecting the single preserved specimen after years of custody and transport between Galápagos and Chicago.
- The animal is golf‑ball sized with short arms bearing a single row of suckers, smooth dorsal skin, blue upper coloring and deep purple underside, and it lacks an ink sac, traits that placed it in the genus Microeledone.
- Researchers say the find highlights how little of the deep seafloor is documented, underscores legal and logistical hurdles in studying rare specimens, and adds urgency to assessing biodiversity before offshore mining and other extractive work expands.