A very rare jellyfish has been observed, its body is spotted and its tentacles striped (video)
Masterweb
14.07.2023 11:55
Source of the article: Source
Chirodectes maculatus, a species of jellyfish, has been seen very rarely, this is only the second time images of this species have been captured.
It’s the size of a soccer ball! Its stripes on its tentacles and its kinds of halos on its body make it an incredible and rare looking species. It is from their tasks that they take their names of Latin origin.
The anatomy of this jellyfish is also particular, it has four groups of tentacles and a mysterious red mass in its bell which would probably be a digestive cavity.
According to Vice, these jellyfish are recognizable by their cubic-shaped bodies and venom, but this species appears not to be poisonous.
Dr. Allen Collins, zoologist and curator told Vice “It is not possible to observe all the characters of this species from this video”. But the “visible characters,” according to Collins, “fit the species criterion very well.”
This video was taken by divers from Scuba Kavieng, while diving near the coast of Papua New Guinea.
It was in 1997 that divers encountered this species for the first time. She was captured and observed only from the outside. It was officially designated as Chirodectes maculatus only in 2005.
Appearing about 650 million years ago, jellyfish are certainly the most mysterious marine individuals, they are found everywhere and at all depths.
They have a very large number of different species, about 2000 have been identified, but there could still be hundreds of thousands yet to be discovered.
More than 200 species have been recorded on the French coasts alone. Even if you have to be careful, don’t panic, they are not all dangerous!
Among the most common, the Aurelia Aurita which is present in all the seas and oceans.
What makes them so enigmatic is surely their lack of a brain, respiratory system and heart. They have only one digestive system and they breathe through their walls.
Their colors, which are sometimes blue or pink, are so vibrant that they look unnatural!
The diversity in the sizes of jellyfish is also impressive. One of the smallest discoveries to date is only 2 to 3 cm in diameter, it is the Irukandji jellyfish, its bites are also fatal.
In comparison, the largest jellyfish discovered to date is the Cyanea Capillata also called lion’s mane jellyfish, it can reach 2.5 meters in diameter, and has around 800 tentacles of 40 meters!
