Dumbo Octopus

Named for the elephant from the classic Disney movie, this is an adorable octopus that lives about 10,000 feet underwater. 

This is a picture from the first link below, the Smithsonian's Ocean section. Isn't this an adorable little creature? If you follow the link, you can actually see a video of them swimming around. That video is actually taken about 200 miles off the coast of Oregon, and at only 6,600 feet deep, which is a lot shallower than Dumbos usually are. (How should I pluralize them? Dumbos sounds mean, but anything involving a plural of Octopus is likely to start an argument about how to correctly pluralize it...This could be hard. I think, to play it safe, I'll use all options so I can make sure I used the right one at least once. Sound good?)

Dumbo Octopus is actually a name used for several species of 'umbrella' octopus that live in the depths. They are actually the deepest known types of octopi, though we've still got a lot to explore in the deeper waters, so no guarantees about that. These types got named because of their  'ear' fins, which they flap to propel themselves, using their legs to steer. Most octopie use a form of jet propulsion expelling water forcefully, but Dumbo flaps it's 'ears', which makes their nickname more fitting because it's using it's ears in an unusual way to propel themselves. 

 

This is from the Aquarium of the Pacific link below. One of the other strange things about these guys is that Dumbo Octopuses don't have ink sacks. The article I was reading said it was because they don't encounter predators often, but I think part of it might also be because of how deep they are--how useful would the ink be when the water would be pure black anyway? 

These two are from the National History Museum link below. 

Since they don't move very fast and their mouths are not developed into full beaks, these adorable Dumbos eat whatever they can find, generally small things like oysters and worms and whatnot. Since they're such deep-sea creatures, it's really hard to study them. Like with Blobfish, dragging them up to the surface can cause a lot of damage to them, meaning they don't get a good specimen to look at and have to guess a lot from what they've been able to see. 

There's a lot of research left to do, both about the ocean depths and about the creatures there specifically, but at least we've got a bit of a start. I hope you enjoyed learning about these adorable little ones, and there are links below if you want to learn more. 

Sources:

Smithsonian Ocean's Section-- Dumbo Octopus

Oceana-- Dumbo Octopus

Aquarium of the Pacific-- Dumbo Octopus

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management-- Dumbo Octopus

Natural History Museum--- Dumbo Octopus

National Geographic-- Dumbo Octopus

One Earth-- Dumbo Octopus