New tiny blue octopus species discovered near Galápagos

A tiny blue octopus discovered nearly 6,000 feet beneath the surface near the Galápagos Islands has been identified as a new species, scientists announced this week. The creature, named Microeledone galapagensis, was first spotted in 2015 during a deep-sea expedition aboard the research vessel EV Nautilus.

While exploring an underwater mountain near Darwin Island at the northern edge of the Galápagos archipelago, researchers deployed a remotely operated vehicle that captured video of the octopus crawling across the seafloor at a depth of about 5,800 feet (1,773 meters). The octopus, roughly the size of a golf ball with a striking blue color, immediately stood out. “Right away, I knew it was something really special. I'd never seen anything like it,” said Janet Voight, curator emerita of invertebrates at the Field Museum in Chicago and lead author of a study describing the species in the journal Zootaxa.

The team collected the specimen and filmed two others that appeared identical. After returning to the Charles Darwin Research Station, researchers sent photographs to Voight. The preserved octopus was later shipped to Chicago for detailed analysis. However, a major obstacle...