The Octopod called "Casper" has been discovered recently and it appears that the species is at risk due to deep sea mining. It received its name because of its ghost like appearance, like other octopods "Casper" is squishy but it is also unique since it is colorless.

They are known to lay eggs on the dead stalks of sponges, these are attached to seafloor nodules that are rich is valuable metals mostly used in computers and phones reported Aussie Network News.

The Octopod is rare and they are found growing only in certain specific areas, researchers state they are very valuable to mining companies because of their metal deposit. Their eggs are believed to take years to hatch, despite the struggles faced by "Casper" it will become challenging for them to survive if the hard seafloor is removed.

Researchers discovered these species last spring and it was found at a record breaking ocean depth of more than 4000 meters near Necker Island on the coast of Hawaii. With further research they figured out that Octopods are numerous in manganese crust areas as per Science Daily.

Researcher Autun Purser said it would be a huge loss to biodiversity in the deep sea, besides it may also have an important knock on effects. Octopods are sizable creatures and they thrive on other smaller creatures if they are removed from the ocean the population is more likely to change for the other sea creatures as well.

Researchers have gone deeper to study the nodules and the importance to microbes including small sea creatures such as starfish, crabs and fish. There are various unknown creatures lurking in the depth of the ocean and many have not been discovered yet.

The Octopod "Casper" was one unique discovery of a long lived sea creature. Considering the fact that Octopods take years to hatch it could become an endangered species if their numbers fall.

Related