Strange new medusa jellyfish species discovered off Japan

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Scientists have lastly discovered and named an odd medusa species noticed solely twice earlier than within the depths of the Sumisu Caldera, a volcanic formation off Japan’s coast.

The jellyfish species, about 10cm in diameter, has been namedSantjordia pagesi due to the way in which its brilliant crimson abdomen resembles the Cross of St George.

It lives at a depth of over 800m, solely within the Sumisu Caldera in Ogasawara Islands about 460 km south of Tokyo – a hydrothermally energetic deep-sea volcanic construction with a diameter of about 10 km.

“The species is very different from all the deep-sea medusae discovered to date. It’s relatively small, whereas others in this kind of environment are much larger. The bright red colouring of its stomach probably has to do with capturing food,” examine co-author André Morandini from the University of São Paulo in Brazil stated.

At such depths of about 812m within the sea, many creatures are likely to glow on account of bioluminescence to navigate within the darkness.

The brilliant crimson abdomen of the new jellyfish probably ensures that such bioluminescent prey it swallows will not be seen by different predators, scientists suspect.

Researchers discovered that the medusa was very completely different even from intently associated recognized species, and suspect S. pagesi could have venom that could possibly be very not like these discovered thus far.

“Who knows? Maybe it holds secrets more valuable than all the mineral wealth that could be extracted from that place. All this with the advantage of keeping the species and the site intact,” Dr Morandini confused.

Usually, the invention of a new species entails the gathering of a number of specimens, however since S. pagesi may be very uncommon and exhausting to gather, its description was primarily based solely on a single specimen.

Researchers hope future surveys of the deep ocean could assist discover extra members of the group.

“We opted to publish the description and call attention to the species that are present at the site, which has a substrate rich in minerals and the potential to be commercially developed. Unfortunately, research can’t be conducted in such places without partners who have interests of this kind,” Dr Morandini stated.