This Sneaky Octopus Species Managed to Bamboozle Scientists for Years

Cephalopods have been quietly plotting their revenge against humanity for years, pranking the people that keep them in captivity, escaping from aquariums, and even forming octopus colonies. While we think we’re onto cephalopods’ games, a newly discovered species of giant octopus shows how little we know about these wonderful weirdos.

On Monday, Earther reported on the octopus in question — a second species of giant Pacific octopus, aptly named the frilled giant Pacific octopus. It took researchers from Alaska Pacific University (APU) several years to actually collect enough evidence to declare they’d discovered species separate from the giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini), though they suspect local fishers have been catching these octopuses for decades.

In order to finally confirm the existence of these elusive octopuses, APU undergrad student Nate Hollenbeck observed shrimp fisher’s catches for his senior thesis. This made sense, considering sometimes, hungry octopuses climb into a fisher’s pot to grab some grub. Sure enough, Hollenbeck was able to make =READ MORE