Megaleledone setebos is the new species discovered by the Census Marine Life and lives in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. This one is a juvenile; adults can be nearly 1 metre long.

It is thought to be the common ancestor of the deep-sea octopuses that ride the ‘Antarctic thermohaline expressway’ – a mass of fast-moving water that moves away from Antarctica.

The salty waters of the ‘expressway’ are propelled when ice that forms at the surface around the continent. As this happens, salt is expelled from the young ice, and the very salty, very dense seawater cascades northwards like cream

Image: M. Rauschert