Stephanie Bush, a postdoctoral researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) thinks she may have found a new species of octopus while collecting squids and octopuses for the aquarium's exhibit.
The new find has big eyes and large fins that look like puppy ears. (Can it get any cuter?) The octopus stays close to the sea floor, puffing itself up like a parachute to propel itself while it dines on crustaceans and worms (slightly less cute...) and Bush thinks it should be named "Octopus Adorabilis." (OK, cute again).
"I was thinking about what my options are [for naming it], and I wanted it to be something indicative of the characteristic of the species. Since they're so cute, I thought I could name it the Opistoteuthis adorabilis," Bush told ABC News.
Until Bush settles on an official scientific name, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is nicknaming the species the "flapjack octopus." Bush and the aquarium have collected about 15 of these Pokémon/Pac-Man ghost hybrids.
