TSAF: Tiny Blue Octopus
You know you love them!
Today’s special animal friend is a newly classified, tiny blue octopus, Microeledone galapagensis. If the universe wanted to shower me with love, a tiny blue octopus is the way to do it. There is a market opportunity for anyone who wants to make plush Microeledone galapagensis, including among crew members of the research vessel which collected it.
M.g. was described for the scientific record on Monday by Janet Voight, octopus specialist at the Field Museum in Chicago. The single specimen was discovered in 2015 off the Galapagos island of Darwin, ironically, in about 5,900 feet of water. It – or rather, she - is about 2-1/2” long, with a relatively large mantle and stubby little tentacles. Each little tentacle has one row of suckers. She is light blue on the top and deep purple underneath. Dr. Voight suggests that the deep purple helps to cover the bioluminescence of prey animals, keeping the octopus from attracting larger predators.
There are many little, deep-sea octopi, and new species are identified nearly every year. Very few of them are blue, however. In 2024, four species were discovered near Costa Rica. Analysis is still ongoing.
Thank you to “dj l” for notifying me about this new discovery.
Good morning, animal fans! It's Friday here and not raining. I have a meeting this morning of the Envirothon Steering Committee, for which I am prepared with an agenda and a time limit. I am generally regarded as being good at running meetings efficiently and pleasantly.
Good morning. 50 degrees here and sunny, with a high in the upper 70s (probably reaching 80).
Apropos of summer, the mothership is reporting what it describes as “Tick Season’s Record Start”. FP’s TGIF headlines the proposed Trump $250 bill.