World Oceans Day

On June 8, World Oceans Day, we also celebrate rare and astonishing creatures such as the Dumbo octopus (Insigniteuthis calypso).

It looks as though it has come straight from a cartoonist’s sketchbook, yet it lives in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea—in this video, it is found at a depth of about 1,700 meters—and is easily recognized by the small fins that resemble the ears of the famous little elephant. It is a benthopelagic cephalopod, less than 10 centimeters long, only rarely observed in the Mediterranean and, until a few years ago, known almost exclusively through accidental catches.

Thanks to seafloor exploration campaigns carried out by ISPRA as part of the PNRR MER – Seamounts project, it has been possible to document this species in its natural habitat, expanding our knowledge of the distribution and biodiversity of deep Mediterranean ecosystems.