The creature has only been seen twice deep in the Sumisu Caldera, a volcanic formation in the Ogasawara Islands. The scientist was part of a group that documented a rare species of jellyfish discovered at a depth of 812 meters. A gelatinous animal about 10 cm in diameter with a red belly that resembles a St. George’s cross when viewed from above. IT Santjordia pagesA recently described species of jellyfish. Jellyfish is a type of free-swimming umbrella-shaped jellyfish with a reduced body.

The new species is described in an article published in the journal Zootaxa. The study was carried out by an international group of researchers, including a Brazilian scientist, with the support of FAPESP. The last author of the article is about scientist Andre Morandini. He is Professor of Zoology at the Institute of Biological Sciences of the University of São Paulo (IB-USP) and Director of the Center for Marine Biology (CEBIMar) of the same university.

In carrying out his research, Morandini benefited from the support of the FAPESP Research Program on Characterization, Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity (BIOTA-FAPESP) through three projects (10/50174-7, 11/50242-5 and 13/). 05510-). 7). The other authors are researchers at the Japan Agency for Marine and Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) in Japan and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), also in Japan.

St. George’s cross jellyfish, as it is called, apparently lives only in the Sumisu Caldera in the Ogasawara Islands, about 460 km south of Tokyo. The caldera is a hydrothermally active deep-sea volcanic structure with a diameter of approximately 10 km and a depth of 812 m.

“This species is very different from all deep-sea jellyfish discovered to date. It is relatively small, but others in this environment are much larger. The bright red color of its stomach is probably related to the capture of food,” Morandini explained.

Like all jellyfish, p. pages It is transparent and the bright red stomach ensures that the bioluminescent organisms remain undetected by predators after ingestion. Bioluminescence (emission of light by living organisms) is common in the darkness of sea depths.

The species adjective pages are named after the recently deceased jellyfish taxonomist from Barcelona, ​​Dr. It was named in honor of Francesco Pages. The authors determined that the jellyfish belongs to a new genus (sanjordiaSt George in Catalan) and subfamily (Santjordiinae) of the jellyfish family Ulmaridae.

Rare and unavailable

Discovery of a new species often requires the collection of multiple specimens, but p. pages It is so rare and so difficult to collect that the description is based on a single specimen; But scientists have seen another specimen nearby and are awaiting future deep ocean research to find more members of the group.

The specimen was photographed by a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) in 2002. hyperdolphin While diving in the Sumisu caldera, which is accessible only to scientific expeditions with such special equipment. No further examples were found until 2020. KM-ROV was filmed but no other individuals of the same species could be collected.

“We decided to publish a statement and draw attention to species found in a place with a mineral-rich substrate and commercial development potential. Unfortunately, research in such places cannot be carried out without partners who share similar interests,” said Morandini.

Because S.pagesi is so different from even closely related species, researchers think: p. pages It may have a different arsenal of poisons than those discovered to date. “Who knows? Maybe it contains secrets more valuable than all the minerals that can be extracted from here. All this provides the advantage of keeping the view and the place intact,” he emphasized.