Cute Flapjack Octopus to Get Scientific Name
Posted on June 18, 2015
The cute octopus pictured above was discovered and photographed by researchers from the researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). It has been nicknamed the flapjack octopus. The octopus is puffed out in the above photograph but you can see how it looks more like a pancake when flat in the photo and video below. The creature puffs up when it wants to propel itself from the ocean floor.
Stephanie Bush, a postdoctoral fellow at MBARI, has been given the responsibility of giving the flapjack pancake an official scientific name. She is considering Opistoteuthis adorabilis because of its cuteness. The octopus has large eyes relative to its body which helps make it more adorable.
Bush tells ABC News, "I was thinking about what my options are [for naming it], and I wanted it to be something indicative of the characteristic of the species. Since they're so cute, I thought I could name it the Opistoteuthis adorabilis."
The octopus lives hundreds of feet beneath the surface in Monterey Bay. MBARI captured some live specimens using an ROV and is currently incubating some flapjack pancake eggs. The adorable octopus is also the feature of a video in Science Friday's CephalopodWeek 2015. Take a look: