Gorgeous Octopus Models for Hercules’ Camera
Attention cephalopod fans!
During a dive on an unnamed seamount about 150 miles northwest of Johnston Atoll, our Corps of Exploration came across this gorgeous lavender octopus. Thanks to ROV Hercules’ camera and careful piloting in the control van, we all can clearly enjoy details like a single row of suckers on its tentacles as it moves gracefully over the seafloor. Unlike the dumbo octopus, this species has no fins on the side of its body or hair-like cirri projections along its tentacles, making it a member of the Incirrata suborder of octopods.
First observed in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in 2016, scientists then nicknamed this cephalopod the Casper octopus because of its "friendly ghost" appearance. This animal remains scientifically undescribed at the genus and species level. Finding this individual more than 600 miles south within the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument may indicate these animals can be found on protected seamounts more broadly across the Pacific, an exciting prospect for future expeditions. Keep watching for a close-up of this pale predatory mollusk.
Learn more about this expedition funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute.
Deep Sea Biodiversity & Ancient Volcanoes near Johnston Atoll
Johnston Atoll, one of the most isolated atolls in the world, is located in the central Pacific Ocean, between the Hawaiian Islands, the Line Islands, and the nation of Kiribati. Around this atoll, the Pacific Remote Island Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) was expanded in 2014 to protect the full 200 nautical mile perimeter of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) encompassing many unexplored seafloor features.
