New Bizarre Jelly Discovered in Japan

What's up friends?

Back with another weird creature and today we have a new species of jellyfish that was discovered in Japan.

An undescribed species of ulmarid medusa was observed in situ and captured at 812 m depth within the Sumisu Caldera, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. source

The species was scientifically described as Santjordia pagesi and its most distinctive feature is the stomach that resembles a bright red cross, hence the nickname of St. George's cross medusa.

A gelatinous animal with a diameter of about 10 cm and a red stomach resembling the Cross of St George when seen from above. This is Santjordia pagesi, a newly described species of medusa. Medusae are a type of free-swimming, umbrella-shaped jellyfish with a reduced stalk.

The otherwise transparent jelly has a diameter of about 10 cm and so far has only been spotted.. twice! The first time was in 2002 by a remotely operated vehicle.

However this sighting didn't provide enough info to properly describe the species and it wasn't until 2020 when researchers managed to get better footage of a second individual, allowing them to write a report that just came out.

Lateral and aboral view, source

But why the red stomach? It most probably is an adaptation protecting it from predators as it diminishes the light emitted by its prey, mostly consisting of small bioluminescent creatures of the deep blue!

As aforementioned, the species appears to live only in the Sumisu Caldera in Ogasawara Islands, about 460 km south of Tokyo, a hydrothermally active deep-sea volcanic area, and has some really unique adaptations:

“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 coloring of its stomach probably has to do with capturing food,” said Andre Morandini, one of the study's authors

Anyways, cool little critter don't you think?

If you want to learn more on the new species you can click here for the press release and here for the actual paper. There is no paywall on the latter which is a great bonus 🎉

See you soon with more wonders of the world 🌎

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