There's a new octopus on the ocean floors of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands that is tiny and blue (and cute) but with a long name — Microeledone galapagensis.
The news is exciting because the octopus is the size of a golf ball and because scientists know very little about octopuses that live deep in the tropical Pacific Ocean, as described in the study about the octopus published on Monday in the journal, Zootaxa.
And it must have been very exciting for the one person who knew there was something special about the octopus when she first saw it more than ten years ago — the scientist who led the study describing the new animal.
"Right away, I knew it was something really special. I'd never seen anything like it," said Janet Voight, the lead author of the study.
In 2015, scientists aboard the E/V Nautilus submersible were studying the ocean floor using the sub's remotely operated camera when they noticed the octopus, about 5,800 feet (1768 meters) below the water's surface.
