![]() "Christina was calculating these values and counting the suckers when we realized it didn't compare to other species," Ziegler said. For one, the number of suckers on its tentacles, along with the shape of the gills and beak, suggested something totally new. Instead, Ziegler and his master's student at the time, Christina Sagorny, currently a doctoral student in Ziegler’s lab, used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scans to noninvasively examine the internal organs and structure of the octopus without making a single cut except to extract a DNA sample.īy using these techniques, Sagorny and Ziegler found that their endearing deep-sea dweller didn't match any known species. ![]() "You have to look at the internal structure, which would mean disassembling the specimen in order to describe it," Ziegler said. To identify an octopus to the species level, or to characterize it as a new species typically requires destructive techniques.
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