Optical connector and optical connection structure

An optical connector comprising:

• an optical fiber comprising a glass fiber and a resin coating surrounding the glass fiber;
• a ferrule having a flange outside the ferrule and a through-hole inside the ferrule, the ferrule holding, in the through-hole, a portion of the glass fiber exposed from the resin coating at an end of the optical fiber;
• a plug frame accommodating the ferrule;
• and
• an elastic member abutting the flange and biasing the ferrule parallel to a central axis of the through-hole toward an end face side of the ferrule where an end face of the optical fiber is exposed,
• the optical connector being configured to connect the optical fiber to another optical fiber at an end of the optical connector,
• wherein the flange and the plug frame have a protrusion and a recess, respectively, or a recess and a protrusion, respectively, that are configured to fit to each other, and
• wherein, when the ferrule is moved away from the end of the optical connector, the protrusion and the recess are released from each other to bring the ferrule into a floating state relative to the plug frame.