The elusive “glass” octopus has been spotted in the distant Pacific Ocean. Only his eyes, optic nerve and digestive tract are opaque.
The transparent octopus Vitreledonella richardi is quite rare. Recently, an underwater robot filmed him during a 34-day expedition off the remote Phoenix Islands. This archipelago is located 5100 km northeast of Sydney, Australia.
The glass octopus Vitreledonella richardi is almost completely transparent, with the exception of the cylindrical eyes, optic nerve and digestive tract, which appear opaque. The expedition crew reported two encounters with a glass octopus. This is a great rarity, given that these cephalopods were almost never encountered before. Scientists studied individuals by studying pieces of them in the contents of the intestines of predators.
Scientists have not found “glass” octopuses until 1918. Little is known about these cephalopods, except that they live in tropical and subtropical areas in the depths of the ocean in the mesopelagic, or twilight zone, at depths of 200 to 1000 meters.
