Meet the Carnarvon flapjack octopus, a newly-discovered species of rare and unusual octopus
It's a tiny gelatinous deep-sea shapeshifter with large eyes and blood-red tentacles.
Meet the Carnarvon flapjack octopus, or opisthoteuthis carnarvonensis, a new species discovered off the West Australian coast.
It was collected by scientists during a CSIRO voyage in 2022 from the Carnarvon Canyon Marine Park, but was not named until last week.
As one of the smaller members of the flapjack species, the octopus only grows to around four centimetres but shares the species' unique ability to flatten its body into the shape of a pancake — or a flapjack as its name suggests.
It's a type of cirrate or "dumbo" octopus, a rare and unusual species that have a pair of fins on the top of their heads that resemble miniature elephant ears and assist with swimming.
They reproduce and grow slowly, but, unlike other octopus, they cannot produce ink or change their colour.
As hungry dwellers that live more than 1,000 metres deep on the dimly lit sea floor, the Carnarvon flapjacks' large eyes enhance their ability to capture worms and small crustaceans.
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery volunteer Tristan Verhoeff is the systematic taxonomist who named the octopus.
Dr Verhoeff described the year-long process as "fun".
"It is exciting, but at the same time, there is pressure to do it right," he said.
The procedure for naming a species involves multiple steps, including collecting measurements, counting suckers, dissecting internal organ systems, and capturing detailed photographs.
After that, the results need to be compared with previous research to ensure the species is indeed new.
Dr Verhoeff has also helped name six other cirrate octopus species since 2021. Some of those species had been stored in unidentified collections for decades.
He said the discovery of the Carnarvon flapjack, along with those he was involved in identifying previously, helped "increase our understanding of Australia's deep-sea ecology and biodiversity".
"Describing new species is also essential for future work on their ecology, and assessing populations for conservation."
He said research had already found Australia has a higher biodiversity of cirrate octopus species compared with any other country.
There are now more than 50 cirrate octopus species identified worldwide, with 15 recorded in Australian waters.
Because the Carnarvon flapjack can only be found off north-western Australia, "its presence adds extra value to the recently established marine parks", Dr Verhoeff said.
The naming of the Carnarvon flapjack octopus marks the 10th new marine species to be discovered during the research voyage, joining the recently identified painted hornshark and the parallel-spine scorpionfish.
The CISRO said that throughout the voyage, scientists used advanced underwater camera systems to survey thousands of metres below the ocean surface.
Nets and sleds were then used to collect targeted samples of specimens.
Since the voyage, researchers, partner museums and research collections "have been busily working to help identify and describe some of these new species", the CSIRO said.
CSIRO Marine National Facility team leader Venetia Joscelyne said the discoveries made "help marine managers, such as Parks Australia, better conserve and protect the incredible diversity of marine life that inhabits Australia's oceans".
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ABC News
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