Meet Adorabilis, the World's Cutest Octopus

A recently described species of octopus needs a name, and it's so cute scientists Might Name It ‘Adorabilis’. What do you call an octopus that's got stubby little tentacles, is bright pink, super squishy, and looks like a Pac-Man ghost? Why not Adorabilis, suggests its describer, Stephanie Bush, at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

"Giving it a name is one of the easiest parts," she said. "We have to collect multiple specimens. There's a lot of counting and measuring essentially. You have to differentiate one species from others." This nameless octopus might look familiar. It's the same genus as Pearl, the pink flapjack octopus (Opisthoteuthis califoriana) in the film "Finding Nemo." Scientist thought they were the same animal until Bush noted key distinctions while working with the two species for the Monterey Bay Aquarium's "Tentacles" exhibit last year.