At great depths in the Pacific Ocean, with the help of an underwater vehicle, scientists filmed the rare Dumbo octopus, which received this name – because of its unusual fins (resembling giant ears) – in honor of a baby elephant from a Disney cartoon.
Grimpoteutis (Grimpoteuthis), or Dumbo’s octopus, is a genus of deep-sea octopus. These cephalopods live at great depths – some individuals were found even at a depth of about 7,000 meters: thus, seeing such an octopus is a rarity.
Scientists sometimes manage to photograph Dumbo with the help of underwater vehicles. So it happened this time: experts from the research vessel Nautilus, using a remote-controlled apparatus Hercules, accidentally noticed a specimen of grimpoteutis (Nautilus is now conducting research on the extinct underwater volcano Davidson off the coast of California).
This individual is quite large: at length it reaches about 60 centimeters – usually Dumbo octopuses of smaller sizes. On average, their length is 20−30 cm, although once a very unusual individual was found, reaching a length of about 1.8 meters.
Not so long ago, scientists shared a video showing the newborn octopus Dumbo.
