In 2022, a team of scientists set out on a deep-sea voyage on behalf of Australia’s leading science agency: the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
As they explored 1,500 meters below sea level, the scientists estimated that they discovered over 1,000 undiscovered species in and around Carnarvon Canyon and Gascoyne Marine Parks in Western Australia.
Since their monthlong voyage back in 2022, the team of marine researchers and taxonomists has been hard at work cataloguing the many species they spotted lurking in the watery depths.
Among them is a “rare and unusual” new species of dumbo octopus: the Carnarvon flapjack octopus.
Dumbo octopuses live in the deepest reaches of the ocean, and are named after the famous Disney elephant due to their prominent ear-like fins.
The “flapjack” octopus is a subset of the dumbo family that is named after its incredible shapeshifting abilities, which allow it to balloon out “like a tiny gelatinous umbrella” and flatten its body like a pancake to evade predators.
The new species, which has blood-red tentacles and huge eyes, is also very small in size, only reaching four centimeters in diameter.
On May 12, Tristan Verhoeff, a doctor and volunteer systematic taxonomist at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, finally published his team’s discovery of the creature.
Verhoeff said that the Carnarvon flapjack octopus is unique to one specific region of northwestern Australia and that its presence adds “extra value to these recently established marine parks.”
“Australia has a higher biodiversity of dumbo octopus species compared to other countries but many of these species have only been recorded or described in the past few years,” Verhoeff explained in a press release.
“This species discovery increases our understanding of Australia’s deep-sea ecology and biodiversity,” he continued. “Describing new species is also essential for future work on their ecology, and assessing populations for conservation.”
Too little is currently known about flapjack octopuses, and other dumbo octopuses, to accurately estimate their population size. But on a global scale, octopuses of all kinds have been threatened by upticks in overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution.
In addition to being highly intelligent, octopuses are hugely beneficial to their environment.
Like other species of octopus, the Carnarvon flapjack octopus feeds on small marine life like worms and crustaceans, which helps protect seagrass beds and coral reefs from overgrazing.
In turn, they also serve as food for key ocean predators like sharks, dolphins, and large fish.
Since their 2022 voyage, Verhoeff and his team have been carefully leafing through centuries of “comparative material” and “old literature” at local museums to ensure that their findings are as accurate as possible.
“Many of the new species I have described have been in museums and other collections for decades, awaiting someone to notice them,” Verhoeff said.
Lisa Kirkendale, head of the aquatic zoology department at the Western Australian Museum, told CSIRO that the discovery “illustrates how little we still know about the deep sea in this area.”
“The Indian Ocean is truly a frontier for marine biodiversity research and the WA Museum is the region’s institutional hub as we move forward to address this challenge,” she said.
“In Australia, we need to better support taxonomists, like Tristan, to continue to document fabulous new species, such as the Carnarvon flapjack octopus.”
Header image via CSIRO
