Monday, March 07, 2016

A ghostlike Octopus have been found.

Most persons don't believe in ghost but surprisingly a sea animal(Octopus) have likened to one.An underwater research craft has spotted a "ghostlike" octopus that appears to belong to a
previously unknown species on the ocean floor near Hawaii,
a discovery that highlights how little is known about the
deep sea, a U.S. zoologist said on Saturday.
The milky white creature, nicknamed "Casper the Friendly
Ghost" by Twitter users, was caught on cameras mounted on
the craft as it explored the Pacific Ocean at a depth of
4,290 meters, or about 2-1/2 miles, the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration said.
Describing the animal as an incirrate octopod, one of two
main groupings of octopods, NOAA said it was the first
time an incirrate was spotted so deep in the ocean.
"This animal was particularly unusual because it lacked the
pigment cells, called chromatophores, typical of most
cephalopods, and it did not seem very muscular," said
Michael Vecchione, a research zoologist at NOAA's National
Marine Fisheries Service. Cephalopods belong to a biological
class that includes octopuses, squid and cuttlefish.
"The deep sea is so poorly known that finding new or
unexpected things happens fairly often," Vecchione said in
an email, adding that he was excited by the images. "What
is unusual is the opportunity to explore this deep."
The octopod "almost certainly" was one of a species never
previously described by scientists, and it may well belong to
a genus that has yet to be identified, wrote Vecchione,
who is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, D.C.
To be certain, he said in the email, scientists would need
at least one specimen, and preferably several of them.
NOAA has posted a video on the website showing a pale,
rounded form with expressionless eyes and languid tentacles
resting on the ocean floor. Its appearance led some Twitter
users to say it resembled the cartoon character Casper the
Friendly Ghost.
Last week's discovery came during the first dive of the
2016 season from the Okeanos Explorer, a ship operated by
NOAA that explores little-known parts of the oceans.
The remotely operated underwater vehicle Deep Discoverer
came across the octopod near Necker Island, or
Mokumanamana, on the northwestern end of the Hawaiian
Archipelago.

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