夏威夷附近海域發現新物種"幽靈章魚"

An underwater research craft has spotted a "ghostlike" octopus that appears to belong to a previously unknown species on the ocean floor near Hawaii, a discovery that highlights how little is known about the deep sea, a U.S. zoologist said on last Saturday.

上週六，一名美國動物學家表示，一水下探測器在夏威夷附近的海底發現了或許是先前未知的一個物種：一隻“幽靈章魚”。該發現凸顯了人類對深海的瞭解仍舊很少。

The milky white creature, nicknamed "Casper the Friendly Ghost" by Twitter users, was caught on cameras mounted on the craft as it explored the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 4,290 meters, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

這個奶白色的生物被推特用戶親暱地稱爲“友好的鬼馬小精靈”。美國國家海洋和大氣管理局表示，探測器上的攝像機是在4290米的海底捕捉到它的身影的。

Describing the animal as an incirrate octopod, one of two main groupings of octopods, NOAA said it was the first time an incirrate was spotted so deep in the ocean.

美國國家海洋和大氣管理局將這隻章魚形容爲一種無觸鬚章魚，並表示這是首次在深海中發現該種章魚。無觸鬚章魚是章魚兩大品種中的一種。

padding-bottom: 62.07%;">

"This animal was particularly unusual because it lacked the pigment cells, called chromatophores, typical of most cephalopods, and it did not seem very muscular," said Michael Vecchione, a research zoologist at NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service. Cephalopods belong to a biological class that includes octopuses, squid and cuttlefish.

美國國家海洋和大氣管理局下屬的國家海洋漁業局的動物學家邁克爾·維舍尼表示：“這隻動物實在是太特別了。它的體內沒有頭足類動物的典型特徵的色素細胞，而且它看上去並不是十分強健。”

"The deep sea is so poorly known that finding new or unexpected things happens fairly often," Vecchione said in an email, adding that he was excited by the images. "What is unusual is the opportunity to explore this deep."

維舍尼在郵件中說：“人們對深海的瞭解甚少，所以經常在那裏發現新的或者意想不到的物種。”他還表示了自己看到這些照片後的驚喜之情：“探索深海的機會真是非比尋常。”

The octopod "almost certainly" was one of a species never previously described by scientists, and it may well belong to a genus that has yet to be identified, wrote Vecchione.

維舍尼還寫道，這隻章魚“幾乎肯定是”一種先前未被科學家們描述的物種，而且它很有可能屬於一個未被確認的類。

NOAA has posted a video on the website showing a pale, rounded form with expressionless eyes and languid tentacles resting on the ocean floor. Its appearance led some Twitter users to say it resembled the cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost.

美國國家海洋和大氣管理局在其官網上發佈了一個視頻。在該視頻裏出現了一個蒼白的圓形物體，眼神呆滯，觸手耷拉在海底的樣子。一些推特用戶表示，它的樣子很像卡通人物鬼馬小精靈。

The remotely operated underwater vehicle Deep Discoverer came across the octopod near Necker Island, or Mokumanamana, on the northwestern end of the Hawaiian Archipelago.

潛入深海的探測器Deep Discoverer是在內克爾島附近遇見這隻章魚的。該島嶼位於夏威夷羣島的西北部邊緣地帶。