Meet the ‘Adorabilis’, the proposed name for an unclassified octopus with the cutest puppy dog eyes.
Stephanie Bush, a marine biology researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute wanted to name the creature something to encapsulate its cuteness.
The tiny Octopus has even tinier ‘wing-like’ fins on its head and big puppy dog eyes making it look like a cute cartoon.
Although now it is just known as the ‘flapjack octopus’, but currently the full scientific name in cosideration is ‘Opisthotheusis Adorabilis’ .
“I thought that since this animal is so adorable, I should name it adorabilis,” laughed Bush.
“I’m supposed to be this really serious stoic scientist, but I’m still human. It’s just so cute.”
The species was first identified in the early 1990s, Bush is the first to try and describe it. The little octopus is about the size of a human fist.
“Giving it a name is one of the easiest parts. We have to collect multiple specimens. There’s a lot of counting and measuring essentially.”
“You have to differentiate one species from others.”
Their body resembles gelatine and measures around 7 inches overall in diameter.
They also flap their webbed arms to swim around the water, although they do spend most of their time sitting on the deep sea floor.
Its pinkish color is somewhat typical among creatures in the deep sea. Despite this color, they still appear black in the deep waters as red light doesn’t reach them down there.
