The Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador are famous for animals found nowhere else on Earth, including giant tortoises and marine iguanas. Now, scientists have added another remarkable creature to that list: a tiny blue octopus newly identified in the deep waters surrounding the islands.
The newly described species was announced in the journal Zootaxa after researchers confirmed that the unusual octopus had never been documented before.
The animal was first spotted during a 2015 deep-sea expedition aboard the exploration vessel E/V Nautilus. The mission was carried out in partnership with the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galápagos National Park Directorate. Researchers used a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to investigate the seafloor near Darwin Island, located at the northern edge of the Galápagos archipelago.
Deep-Sea Discovery Near an Underwater Mountain
As the ROV explored an underwater mountain roughly 5,800 feet (1,773 meters) below the ocean surface, researchers noticed something unusual moving across the seafloor: a tiny octopus with a striking blue color.
