Rare Find from the Deep Sea Scientists study a newly hatched dumbo octopus

contentjunkie (73)in #science • 7 years ago (edited)

From Woods Hole Oceanographic

Deep-sea dumbo octopuses, with their large eyes and round fins that resemble elephant ears, are arguably one of the most endearing creatures of the deep. They've also been one of the most mysterious, because these small animals inhabit the largely inaccessible, deep and dark depths of the ocean floor.
For the first time ever, a team of international researchers were given the rare opportunity to observe and film a dumbo octopus—measuring just a few centimeters—hatching from its egg during an expedition to explore a chain of underwater mountains off the U.S. East Coast in 2005. Their findings were published Feb. 19, 2018, in the journal Current Biology.

“It was the first time that such a deep-sea octopus was observed directly during hatching," says Liz Shea of the Delaware Museum of Natural History and lead author of the study. The team also included scientists from the University of Bonn, the University Hospital Münster, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

The octopus egg was brought onboard the U.S. research vessel Ronald H. Brown attached to a cold-water coral branch, which is where adult females apparently prefer to attach their egg cases. A remotely operated vehicle gathered the coral sample at a depth of almost 2,000 meters (6,600 feet).