NEW SPECIES OF DUMBO OCTOPUS DISCOVERED IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN
The dumbo octopuses are a group of deep-sea cephalopods with around 45 species know to date. These octopuses have “fins” on the sides of the head, resembling elephant ears, and have relativelly small sizes.
Now, using a cominantion of minimally invasive gene analysis and non-invasive techniques digital photography, a team of german biologists has discovered a new species of dumbo octopus, named Emperor dumbo Grimpoteuthis imperator, living at more than 4000 m depth in the northern part of the Emperor Seamounts, an undersea mountain chain in the northwestern part of the North Pacific.
- Map of the North Pacific Ocean. Red dot shown location of the Emperor seamounts, from where the Emperor Dumbo was discovered.
Usually, collecting and describing organisms from the deep ocean implies invasive methods, requiring dissection to examine internal organism, and even partial destruction of specimes. Thus, this methodology help to maintain valuable specimes for further researchs.
-Collected in July 2016, using a chain bag dredge, the specimen reached 30 cm in size, and was identified as a mature male. Using a combination of MRI, micro-CT, researchers were able to build the first interactive 3D model of a cephalopod beak.
Researchers make available a digital copy of the animal, so anybody interested can download it from the online database "MorphoBank" for further research and learning purposes. The preserved octopus itself is kept in the archives of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany.
Reference: Ziegler and Sagorny. 2021. Holistic description of new deep sea megafauna (Cephalopoda: Cirrata) using a minimally invasive approach. BMC Biol.
[Photo description: Main photo, a single octopuses with different views of its body, showing their arms, mouth and fins.