An underwater research craft has spotted¹ a "ghostlike" octopus² that appears to belong to a previously³ unknown species on the ocean floor near Hawaii, a discovery that highlights how little is known about the deep sea, a U.S. zoologist⁴ said on last Saturday.

上周六，一名美国动物学家表示，一水下探测器在夏威夷附近的海底发现了或许是先前未知的一个物种：一只“幽灵章鱼”。该发现凸显了人类对深海的了解仍旧很少。

The milky⁵ 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 Atmospheric⁶ Administration said.

这个奶白色的生物被推特用户亲昵地称为“友好的鬼马小精灵”。美国国家海洋和大气管理局表示，探测器上的摄像机是在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.

美国国家海洋和大气管理局将这只章鱼形容为一种无触须章鱼，并表示这是首次在深海中发现该种章鱼。无触须章鱼是章鱼两大品种中的一种。

"This animal was particularly unusual because it lacked the pigment⁷ cells, called chromatophores, typical of most cephalopods, and it did not seem very muscular," said Michael Vecchione, a research zoologist at NOAA's National Marine⁸ Fisheries Service. Cephalopods belong to a biological class that includes octopuses⁹, squid and cuttlefish¹⁰.

美国国家海洋和大气管理局下属的国家海洋渔业局的动物学家迈克尔·维舍尼表示：“这只动物实在是太特别了。它的体内没有头足类动物的典型特征的色素细胞，而且它看上去并不是十分强健。”

"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."

维舍尼在邮件中说：“人们对深海的了解甚少，所以经常在那里发现新的或者意想不到的物种。”他还表示了自己看到这些照片后的惊喜之情：“探索深海的机会真是非比寻常。”

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.

维舍尼还写道，这只章鱼“几乎肯定是”一种先前未被科学家们描述的物种，而且它很有可能属于一个未被确认的类。

NOAA has posted a video on the website showing a pale, rounded form with expressionless eyes and languid tentacles¹¹ resting on the ocean floor. Its appearance led some Twitter users to say it resembled the cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost.

美国国家海洋和大气管理局在其官网上发布了一个视频。在该视频里出现了一个苍白的圆形物体，眼神呆滞，触手耷拉在海底的样子。一些推特用户表示，它的样子很像卡通人物鬼马小精灵。

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

潜入深海的探测器Deep Discoverer是在内克尔岛附近遇见这只章鱼的。该岛屿位于夏威夷群岛的西北部边缘地带。