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 creature has even tinier ‘wing-like’ fins on its head and big puppy dog eyes making it look like a cute cartoon.
Currently the full scientific name in cosideration is ‘Opisthotheusis Adorabilis’ although now it is just known as the ‘flapjack octopus’.
“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 little octopus is about the size of a human fist, and although the species was first identified in the early 1990s, Bush is the first to try and describe it.
“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.”
For the eagle eyed out there, the flapjack octopus featured in the hit film “Finding Nemo” as “Pearl.”
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.
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.
