{"id":335775,"date":"2025-12-08T21:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T21:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/335775\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T21:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T21:54:09","slug":"rarely-seen-seven-arm-blob-octopus-filmed-by-underwater-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/335775\/","title":{"rendered":"Rarely-Seen Seven-Arm &#8216;Blob&#8217; Octopus Filmed by Underwater Camera"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>      <img data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/seven-arm-octopus-800x420.jpg\" alt=\"A pink and translucent dumbo octopus swims in dark blue water, with its large fins resembling ears and its tentacles spread out behind it.\" width=\"800\" height=\"420\" class=\"size-large wp-image-829650\"  \/>Seven-arm octopus (Haliphron atlanticus)  (Image: \u00a9 2025 MBARI) <\/p>\n<p>A rarely seen seven-arm octopus known as \u201cthe blob octopus\u201d was captured on camera 2,300 feet below the surface in remarkable deep-sea footage.<\/p>\n<p>The species \u2014 formally known as the seven-arm octopus (Haliphron atlanticus) \u2014 was recorded by the remotely operated vehicle Ventana, operated by the team at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). According to MBARI, the encounter occurred during a recent expedition in Monterey Bay and marks only the fourth time the organisation has observed this species in nearly four decades of deep-sea exploration.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mbari.org\/animal\/seven-arm-octopus\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\">According to MBARI,<\/a> Senior Scientist Steven Haddock and members of the institute\u2019s Biodiversity and Biooptics Team came across the octopus at roughly 2,300 feet during routine survey work. Using a 4K camera system developed by MBARI engineers for deep-sea missions, the team documented the animal\u2019s appearance and behaviour in high-resolution detail.<\/p>\n<p>MBARI describes the animal as a \u201crarely seen giant\u201d of the ocean\u2019s twilight zone, and its latest footage adds to the limited but growing record of one of the deep sea\u2019s most elusive species. Female seven-arm octopuses can grow to considerable sizes, reaching up to 165 pounds, while males are far smaller, often no more than eight inches long. Despite its name, the species has eight arms like other octopuses, according to MBARI. In males, one arm \u2014 the reproductive hectocotylus \u2014 is kept tucked into a sac beneath the right eye, creating the appearance of having only seven.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Haliphron_atlanticus_V4701_11_1150-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A pink dumbo octopus floats in dark water, with its fins out and tentacles curled, surrounded by tiny particles.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-large wp-image-829651\"  \/>Seven-arm octopus (Haliphron atlanticus) is seen eating a helmet jelly (Periphylla periphylla) (Image: \u00a9 2025 MBARI)<\/p>\n<p>The octopus was holding a crimson helmet jelly (Periphylla periphylla) in the footage captured last month, consistent with past MBARI findings that Haliphron atlanticus preys on gelatinous animals. Previous research by Haddock and MBARI collaborator Henk-Jan Hoving first demonstrated that this species feeds on jellies \u2014 a behaviour that museum specimen analysis later reinforced. Although gelatinous prey is relatively low in nutritional value, it is abundant in the deep ocean and sustains a range of large predators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsing a 4K camera specially developed by MBARI engineers for deep-sea exploration, the team collected detailed observations of the animal\u2019s appearance and behavior,\u201d MBARI writes on YouTube. \u201cThis extraordinary octopus was clutching a crimson red helmet jelly (Periphylla periphylla). This new sighting underscores the complexity of deep-sea food webs and their surprising connections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Image credits: All photos by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mbari.org\/animal\/seven-arm-octopus\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\"> \u00a9 2025 MBARI<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seven-arm octopus (Haliphron atlanticus) (Image: \u00a9 2025 MBARI) A rarely seen seven-arm octopus known as \u201cthe blob octopus\u201d&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,94054,23326,187216,128,187217,94056,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-335775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-mbari","11":"tag-octopus","12":"tag-rov","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-sevenarmoctopus","15":"tag-underwatercamera","16":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}