This Octopus Is So Adorable That Scientists Might Name It ‘Adorabilis’

This flapjack octopus is so cute that it might officially be named “adorabilis.” Specimens of this unnamed octopus have been collected since 1990; now Stephanie Bush, a postdoctoral researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California, said that she is considering the scientific name Opisthoteuthis Adorabilis.

Opisthoteuthis is the same genus as Pearl, the pink flapjack octopus in “Finding Nemo.” The octopus is 7 inches (17.8cm) in diameter, lives in the deep sea, and has a web between its legs, allowing it to “parachute” through the water. It uses the fins on its mantle to steer.

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This cute little fella was found at depths reaching 1,476ft (450m)

It has a web between its legs that allows it to “parachute” through the water

Scientists in California are considering naming it “Opisthoteuthis Adorabilis”

It is the same genus as “Pearl,” the octopus from Finding Nemo