Down in the deep ocean off the coast of Costa Rica scientist have name , not one , not two , not three , but four fresh species of cryptic - sea octopus in a 259 - square - kilometer field ( 100 satisfying Swedish mile ) .
These new coinage live in seamounts in and aroundhydrothermal springsthat were discovered in 2023 . These area containoctopus nurseriesthat have been launch to be active all year around . One of the novel species is in the genusMuusoctopus , and will be called the Dorado octopus after the area in which it was found , a pocket-sized rocky outcrop nicknamed El Dorado Hill . This species was the only one of the new four to be found brooding its nut in warm springs on the seafloor .
“ Through tough work , our team discovered novel hydrothermal spring offshore Costa Rica and confirmed that they hostnurseries of deep - ocean octopusand unequalled biodiversity , ” say Dr Beth Orcutt , of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences , in a statement sent to IFLScience .
A mother octopus broods her eggs near a small outcrop of rock unofficially called El Dorado Hill.Image credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute (CC BY-NC-SA)
These observations were made by a team from Schmidt Ocean Institute onboardR / V Falkor ( too ) . In aggregate , over 160 deep - sea animal specimen will be archived in the Museum of Zoology at the University of Costa Rica , supply to an existing collection of specimens amount around 150 from an expedition last June .
These collections mark the first time the specimens will be retain in the primal American area where they were collected , rather than being direct to the United States or housed somewhere in Europe . retain them in Costa Rica also allows scientist to get at the specimens easily , helping to inform direction decisions surrounding this deep - sea home ground .
“ The shock of the R / V Falkor ( too ) expedition on understanding the deep Pacific water of Costa Rica will last into the time to come and hopefully create awareness that evolve into policies to protect the thick ocean of the rural area , ” said Dr Jorge Cortés of the University of Costa Rica . “ I trust that the sashay serves as an inspiration for fresh generation . We need more external collaborations to advance knowledge of our deep - ocean heritage . ”
A deep-sea skate nursey nicknamed the “Skate Park” was also discovered.Image credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute (CC BY-NC-SA)
As well as the four octopus species , the squad discovered a skate glasshouse , calling it the Skate Park , also off the slide of Costa Rica . Threemore hydrothermal springswith different fluid temperatures and chemistries were also found in the area , 10 to 30 nautical miles from each other .
“ Drs . Cortés and Orcutt forge a squad that truly exemplifies international coaction which endow scientist within Costa Rica and enriches local knowledge and understanding of the ocean , " say Schmidt Ocean Institute ’s Executive Director , Dr. Jyotika Virman
