Woohoo, if I were in Second Life, I’d be rich. I’ve gotten virtual hugs (*raises eyebrow*), virtual booze, and virtual cephalopods galore.

As faithful readers of the ol’ raincoaster blog know, we’re all about the cephalopods. Sometimes, however, we are torn: are we more octapussian or more squidilicious? Oh, how to decide, how to decide…

But now, thanks to some intrepid and possibly-mad scientists off Hawaii (their big project is vacuuming up random animals from the deeps) and the hard legwork of Frontier Former Editor, I can have the best of both worlds! Presenting the Squidoctopus/Octosquid! Ain’t she a beauty?

 

It’s a squid, it’s an octopus, it’s … a mystery from the deep.

What appears to be a half-squid, half-octopus specimen found off Keahole Point on the Big Island remains unidentified today and could possibly be a new species, said local biologists.

The specimen was found caught in a filter in one of Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority’s deep-sea water pipelines last week. The pipeline, which runs 3,000 feet deep, sucks up cold, deep-sea water for the tenants of the natural energy lab…“It’s a beautiful squid. It’s a gorgeous ruby red color,” Kelley said. “We really enjoy these little mysteries that come up.”

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