'New' octopus discovered looks like Casper the Friendly Ghost

An adorable octopus that resembles Casper the Friendly Ghost was discovered 4,290 metres below the sea surface near Hawaii and may be a new species.

The eight-legged cutie was filmed scampering around the ocean floor at a depth of 14,074 feet, the deepest a cephalopod of this type has been discovered.

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Michael Vecchione, from the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, discovered the octopus while collecting sediment samples in an underwater vehicle.

Speaking to New Scientist, he said: "It is almost certainly a new species."

It is thought to be a type of incirrate octopus since it is similar in appearance to shallow-water octopuses and lacks fins.

In a statement posted on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website, Vecchione said: "A distinctive characteristic was that the suckers were in one, rather than two, series on each arm.

"This animal was particularly unusual because it lacked the pigment cells, called chromatophores, typical of most cephalopods, and it did not seem very muscular. This resulted in a ghostlike appearance, leading to a comment on social media that it should be called Casper, like the friendly cartoon ghost. It is almost certainly an undescribed species and may not belong to any described genus."

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