text: The most adorable little octopus in the world looks like a cross between a Pac-Man ghost and a Pokemon creature. 
   
   Just don't ask for its name because it doesn't have one yet. But the octopus is so cute that "adorable" might become part of its scientific identity. 
   
   "As someone that's describing the species you get to pick what the specific name is," Stephanie Bush, postdoctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, who is working to describe the octopus, told Science Friday. "One of the thoughts I had was making it Opisthoteuthis Adorabilis -- because they're really cute." 
   
   As the possible name indicates, this rare cephalopod belongs to the Opisthoteuthis genus. That's the same genus as Pearl, the pink flapjack octopus (Opisthoteuthis californiana) in "Finding Nemo." 
   
   Specimens of this new octopus have been collected since 1990, but until now they have not yet been scientifically described. The wee octopus is known for the distinctive webbing between its tentacles, which allows it to float like a parachute while using the fins on its mantle to steer. 
   
   "These animals are part of the greater ocean ecosystem," Bush said. "And in order to have a healthy functioning ocean ecosystem we need to understand the ecology and behavior of the individual species." 
   
   Learn more in the video above, from Science Friday. 
   
   (h/t Digg) ||||| With big round eyes, a pretty pink color and a small, squishy body, an octopus never looked cuter. 
   
   In fact, the California researcher who’s faced with naming this unclassified species living in the depths of Monterey Bay is considering a title that conveys its adorableness. 
   
   “As someone that’s describing the species you get to pick what the specific name is,” Stephanie Bush, postdoctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), told Science Friday this week. “One of the thoughts I had was making it Opisthoteuthis adorabilis — because they’re really cute.” 
   
   The naming process for a newly discovered species is long and complex and can take several years. “It involves publishing papers, collecting specimens and distributing them to museums around the country,” explains MBARI spokesperson Kim Fulton-Bennett. 
   
   Bush clearly has years of work ahead of her, but thankfully she’s working with a fascinating specimen. 
   
   This rare cephalopod belongs to the Opisthoteuthis genus and might look familiar as it’s the same genus as Pearl, the pink flapjack octopus (Opisthoteuthis californiana) in the Pixar film Finding Nemo. 
   
   Scientists originally thought Opisthoteuthis californian and this unclassified mollusk were the same species but when Bush began working on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Tentacles exhibit (still on display) last year, she noticed key distinctions and realized she was working with two species. 
   
   Opisthoteuthis specimens have been collected as far back as 1990 and inhabit the deep sea along the California coast at depths of up to 1,476 feet. The species’ gelatinous body measures about seven inches in diameter and its tentacles are webbed, giving it the appearance of an umbrella when it spreads them. 
   
   These octopus swim by moving their fins, pulsing their webbed arms, pushing water through their funnel for jet propulsion, or all three at once. 
   
   “They’ll spread that web and parachute along and steer themselves with the fins on their mantle,” says Bush, describing their movement. 
   
   The octopus often swim up off the bottom and hover a bit just above the seafloor, looking for small crustaceans, worms, and other food. 
   
   The thing that makes this octopus especially unique—and cute—is its puppy dog eyes, which Bush says, are unusually large for the size of its small body. 
   
   Here’s a look at seven more species discovered in the past 10 years by MBARI researchers in Monterey Bay. ||||| What do you call a tiny octopus with big eyes and gelatinous skin, and that's cute as a button? Nobody knows quite yet! Stephanie Bush of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute aims to classify and name this presently undescribed deep-sea cephalopod using preserved specimens and a clutch of eggs housed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. **DISCLAIMER** from Dr. Stephanie Bush: The Opisthoteuthis eggs depicted in this video are preserved specimens, not the eggs laid at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (which are still being lovingly incubated at MBARI's Cold Storage Facility!) 
   
   This video is part of our annual cephalopod celebration coming June 19th to June 26th, 2015. 
   
   Produced by Christian Baker 
   
   Additional footage courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium & MBARI 
   
   Music by Audio Network
target: – The Huffington Post thinks it looks like "a cross between a Pac-Man ghost and a Pokemon creature." But it will be a researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institution who will get the honor of bestowing a name on the little octopus with huge eyes. (Or "puppy dog eyes" as the San Francisco Chronicle puts it.) And don't underestimate the cuteness factor: “As someone that’s describing the species, you get to pick what the specific name is,” Stephanie Bush tells Science Friday. “One of the thoughts I had was making it Opisthoteuthis adorabilis because they’re really cute.” (A newly discovered frog looks very, very familiar.)