In what could well go down as the cutest scientific discovery of 2026, researchers say they have identified an entirely new species of tiny blue octopus in the deep sea off the Galápagos Islands.
Roughly the size of a golf ball, the creature has been classified as a new species under the name Microeledone galapagensis in a study published in the scientific journal Zootaxa.
The discovery dates back to a deep-sea expedition aboard a research vessel in 2015. Near Isla Darwin in the far north-west of the Galápagos archipelago, the crew steered a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) across the seabed. At a depth of around 1,773 metres, a camera mounted on an underwater mountain filmed the small octopus.
Video recordings from the mission document the scientists' excitement: "He's tiny," and "It's blue," were their first impressions. During the expedition, two further specimens were observed, and one female was captured for examination.
Janet Voight, an expert on cephalopods at the Field Museum in Chicago and lead author of the study, said she immediately recognized the significance of the find.
"I'd never seen anything like it," she said. The octopuses have short arms, around 3 to 4 centimetres in length, each with around 30 suckers.
Having captured only one specimen of the new species, the team faced a scientific challenge. A conventional species description normally requires the examination and documentation of typical features such as mouthparts and organs, which would have required dissecting the animal.
To avoid killing it, Voight and Stephanie Smith, head of the CT laboratory at the Field Museum, used high-resolution micro-computed tomography (CT scanning).
Using this method, thousands of X-ray cross-sectional images were digitally assembled into a precise 3D model. This made it possible to visualize the finest details of the internal organs and mouth without harming the mollusc.
