New species of Giant Pacific octopus found in Alaska coast: Scientists

Alaska : The Giant Pacific octopus, believed to be the largest species of its kind, has another breed, said a new study.

According to latest discovery by researchers, the Giant Pacific Octopus is actually two separate species. The discovery remains interesting with the fact that the new species was always in front of everyone but no one could recognize it. 

Octopus is known for its camouflaging nature and is called as the master of deception. But scientists were astonished about how aptly the new species of Giant Pacific Octopus deceived everyone and remained unknown despite another similar Giant Pacific octopus species being known to scientists.

The new breed of Giant Pacific octopus has been found by the researchers of the Alaska Pacific University and they said that it was hiding in ‘plain sight’.

The study was conducted over 21 live octopi that were caught by Alaskan fishermen, and kept in shrimp pots. Out of these 21 Octopi, 14 were identified as the Giant Pacific Octopi (Enetroctopus dofleini). But other seven Giant Octopi looked a bit different from their look-alike counterparts.

After studying and analyzing these seven giant octopi, the researchers confirmed that they are another new species of the currently known Giant Pacific Octopus. They called this new species as the Giant frilled Octopus.

David Scheel said, “Presumably, people have been catching these octopuses for years and no one ever noticed.”