{"id":3750,"date":"2026-05-25T21:59:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T21:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/3750\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T21:59:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T21:59:39","slug":"science-breakthrough-scientists-find-new-blue-octopus-the-size-of-golf-ball-in-pacific-ocean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/3750\/","title":{"rendered":"Science breakthrough: Scientists find new blue octopus the size of golf ball in Pacific Ocean"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists have identified a new species of octopus dwelling in the deep ocean surrounding the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, adding to the archipelago’s renowned collection of unique wildlife.<\/p>\n

The small creature, roughly the size of a golf ball with distinctive blue-coloured skin, has been awarded the scientific name Microeledone galapagensis.<\/p>\n

Researchers published their findings in the scientific journal Zootaxa after confirming the animal had never been recorded before.<\/p>\n

The Gal\u00e1pagos, situated off Ecuador’s Pacific coast, are already celebrated for hosting species found nowhere else on the planet, from giant tortoises to marine iguanas.<\/p>\n

This latest addition was first encountered during a deep-sea research mission more than a decade ago, initially spotted in 2015 during an expedition aboard the research vessel E\/V Nautilus.<\/p>\n

A remotely operated underwater vehicle was exploring a seamount some 5,800 feet beneath the surface near Darwin Island when the team noticed something remarkable traversing the ocean floor.<\/p>\n

Audio recordings from the mission captured the researchers’ immediate astonishment: “He’s tiny!” and “It’s blue!”<\/p>\n

The ROV operators, from the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Gal\u00e1pagos National Park Directorate, managed to retrieve the specimen and capture photographs.<\/p>\n

\"octopus\"\/<\/p>\n

The tiny blue octopus has been awarded the scientific name Microeledone galapagensis<\/p>\n

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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION<\/p>\n

Upon returning to the Gal\u00e1pagos, the expedition team transported dozens of deep-sea samples to the Charles Darwin Research Station, where the small blue octopus immediately captured attention among the collected creatures.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the station reached out to Janet Voight, an octopus specialist at the Field Museum in Chicago and lead author of the study, sending photographs for identification.<\/p>\n

“Right away, I knew it was something really special,” said Ms Voight. “I’d never seen anything like it.”<\/p>\n

Classifying a new octopus typically requires dissection to examine the mouth, beak and teeth, yet the team possessed only a single specimen.<\/p>\n

“We only had the one specimen, so I didn’t want to take it apart,” Mrs Voight said.<\/p>\n

The solution came through advanced micro CT scanning at the Field Museum’s imaging laboratory.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Smith, laboratory manager and study co-author, said: “Because CT imaging is non-destructive, it’s especially important for type specimens like this one.<\/p>\n

“There’s nothing like spending the day looking at something no other human has ever seen.”<\/p>\n

\"Gal\\u00e1pagos<\/p>\n

The Gal\u00e1pagos Islands are renowned for a collection of unique wildlife<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

The scanning technology produced detailed 3D models, revealing internal organs without the need for invasive examination.<\/p>\n

Alexander Ziegler, a University of Bonn researcher and senior author of the paper, said: “What really struck me was that the scan of the little octopus revealed so much information on its internal organ systems.<\/p>\n

For Ms Voight, who has dedicated over four decades to studying octopus evolution, this represents her first time leading the formal description of a new species.<\/p>\n

“The oceans are so big, and there’s so much left to explore,” she says.<\/p>\n

Salome Buglass, a marine scientist at UCLA and former Charles Darwin Foundation researcher, noted the broader implications of the discovery.<\/p>\n

She said: “Discoveries like these remind us how much of the deep ocean in Gal\u00e1pagos remains unexplored. <\/p>\n

“Every new species helps us better understand these hidden ecosystems and why protecting them matters.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists have identified a new species of octopus dwelling in the deep ocean surrounding the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, adding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[44,54,2668,729],"class_list":["post-3750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-golf","tag-news","tag-science","tag-sgg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}