A blood-red, jellyfish species was not found off the coast of Newport on Rhode Island. During an ambitious deep-ocean expedition, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) discovered the crimson creature about 700 meters (2,300 feet) below sea level, thinking of their own business. The jelly, which has not yet been named, was discovered during a deep dive on July 28, and the team filmed it as part of NOAA’s North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. The expedition also discovered a variety of other animals, including ctenophores (also known as comb jelly), Cinderella, crustaceans, and Actinopterygii (Ray-found fish).
Quinn Girasek, an NOAA intern who was part of the expedition as a “scientist from shore” said in a statement, the team “saw several unspoken families and potential new species.” Among these potentially fancy species is our mysterious new friend, red jelly. It is thought to belong to the genus Poralia, which is currently a single species – it contains only one species, Poralia rufescens is found in many deep oceans of the world, though often in the Caribbean. However, the researchers believe their new discovery could be a previously undisclosed species the second blood-red jellyfish to join the Poralia family.
“It turns out that the jellyfish in the video. there are a lot more tentacles than the described Poralia rufescens, scientists have managed to believe the jellyfish … an indescribable species,” NOAA told McClatchy News. “Jellyfish also seem to have nematocyst warts in the exumbrella (above or outside the jellyfish clock) which probably works for defense but also for trapping prey. Radial canals of this genus often branch randomly, which is not normal for other related jellyfish.
The jellyfish was discovered in 20 dives of the 25-dive expedition that stretched from late June to late July this year. Earlier in the expedition, the team came across a “real-life SpongeBob and Patrick” a sea sponge hanging 1,885 meters (6,184 feet) underwater. Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) may have discovered previously unknown jellyfish, which are bobbing about 2,300 feet (meters 700 meters) underwater.
Like a floating bear with thin tassels, the jelly has a blood-red body and appears to belong to the Poralia family, the researchers said in a statement. The Poralia rufescens, which has a bell-shaped body, t0 tents, and lives in deep water across the world’s oceans-only one other Poralia species, has been described.
