I love that the Census of Marine Life is getting news coverage! It proves that people can get excited over cool exploratory science--natural history of the deep--that doesn't have any immediate application.

If you want to hear deep-sea species discussed in a truly awesome Scottish accent, play this video and have a listen to Dr. Alan Hughes.

They discuss football octopods, jewel squids, and of course our friend the dumbo octopus. But it's a bit tricky to understand what exactly is "new" about these finds. Ocythoe (football octopuses), Histioteuthidae (jewel squids), and Grimpoteuthis (dumbo octopuses) were all described long before the COML ever started. What's been discovered are new species within each of these groups, along with more information about their abundance, distribution and behavior.

Which is, of course, totally cool!