Rare Glass Octopus Sighting Wows Netizens [Video]

A rare sighting of a glass octopus is doing rounds on the internet. The video that has now gone viral shows the mysterious marine creature moving peacefully through the blue waters.

The rare species of glass octopus in the video is known as Vitreledonella Richardi. The short clip was posted by TheOxygenProject on Twitter, with a caption explaining that "the glass octopus (Vitreledonella richardi) is a very rarely seen cephalopod found in tropical and subtropical waters around the world. These beautiful creatures are found in the deep sea where sunlight doesn't reach".

The video clip, credited to SchmidtOcean, has left netizens mesmerized by the beauty of the seemingly serene marine creature.

The glass octopus, as the name suggests, has a near-transparent body, with only its eyes, optic nerve, and digestive tract not completely transparent. This octopus lives in the deep dark end of the ocean at depths of around 656-3,280 feet, according to Oceaninfo.

First discovered in 1918, this species is generally found in tropical and subtropical waters of the vast ocean, according to Oceaninfo. The creature has elongated and rectangular eyes when viewed from the side. It is believed by scientists that the elongated eyes are a ploy to make the octopus inconspicuous when seen from above.

The elusive glass octopus is believed to live up to 2-5 years, and an adult can grow up to 18 inches or 45 centimeters.

A remotely operated vehicle (ROV), named 'SuBastian,' was reportedly used to capture the video. The clip went viral in no time with more than 19,000 views so far. Twitterati expressed their reactions to the video in the comments.

"They're also so clear as glass that you can see their nerves and digestive tract. Their appearance is camouflaged, and this ability will protect them from attack," wrote a user.

"The definition of the development of life is seen in the sea itself..." another commented. "Wow! What a great job you guys have," stated one user.

Recently, another species of octopus was in news. Found in China, the tiny octopus was known to locals as a different species for a long time. Researchers described the new octopus species as "small to moderate-sized" with distinctive "reddish-orange" or "reddish-brown" skin.

"(B)ased on the obvious differences in the size of the adult animals, gill lamellae number, and the funnel organ shape, we can readily distinguish this new species from 'O.' minor externally," the researchers wrote in their paper published in Zookeys.