Glas-Octopus
Until now, science has only known glass octopuses as remains in the stomach of their predators, which diminished their impression. These are extremely graceful, impressive animals, as photos of the crew of the US research vessel »Falkor« show. For the first time, an expedition team from the Schmidt Ocean Institute succeeded in finding glass octopuses of the species Vitreledonella to film in their natural environment: The molluscs are almost completely transparent; only their optic nerves, eyes and digestive system are clearly visible.
The transparent cephalopods weren’t the only exciting discoveries made by the team in the Pacific Phoenix Archipelago, which is part of the island nation of Kiribati. In the underwater mountains examined, there is a species-rich deep-sea fauna that still contains numerous undescribed species. Some of them were gathered by those involved in order to determine them. They also observed previously unknown behavior, for example in crabs that steal fish from each other.
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