A team led by the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has discovered a new species of 24-eyed jellyfish in the Mai Po nature reserve, in the northwest of the island, as announced on Wednesday.
This new species, although common in tropical and subtropical waters, has now been recorded for the first time in coastal waters in the region, HKBU said in a statement.
The scientists have named the new find Tripedalia maipoensis to reflect the type (family Tripedaliidae) and the locality where it was found during three consecutive summers, between 2020 and 2022, in the nature reserve, located on the eastern shore of the Pearl River estuary.
A creature with a transparent and colorless body, with three tentacles up to 10 centimeters long at each of the four corners, the university student indicated.
Named for its cube-shaped body, the box jellyfish (or known scientifically as the Cubozoa class) belongs to a subgroup that includes some of the most venomous marine animals known from tropical waters.
The jellyfish moves via a flat, pedal-like structure at the base of each tentacle, resembling a boat’s oar, and is very fast due to the production of strong impulses.
Like other box jellies, Tripedalia Maipoensis has 24 eyes. These are divided equally into four groups, each located within a sensory depression.
The researchers said they believe two of these groups have lenses that allow them to form images, while the other four can only perceive light.
The project was led by HKBU Department of Biology Professor Qiu Jianwen, with collaborators from the World Wide Fund for Nature-Hong Kong (WWF-Hong Kong), Ocean Park Hong Kong and the University of Manchester.
Source: TSF
