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Scientists in Hong Kong have discovered midget , square block - shape box jellyfish in a brackish runt pool that are completely unknown to science .
The midget jellies have a entirely guileless and colorless physical structure , or bell , as well as 12 tentacles ending in small , boat paddle - like structures that start the critters to speed through H2O quicker than most otherjellyfishspecies .
Like other box jellyfish, the newfound species has 24 eyes arranged in clusters of six around its cubic body.
Like other boxwood gelatin — a group ofCnidariansthat includes the Australian corner Portuguese man-of-war ( Chironex fleckeri ) , the humanity ’s most venomous nautical animal , according to theNational Ocean Service — the fresh described gelatin have 24 eye arrange in clusters of six around its cubic bell .
" This corner jellyfish connect the infrastructure of its tentacles and its gong with a flat base that reckon like a gravy boat boat paddle , making it distinct from other usual jellyfish,“Qiu Jianwen , a professor in the Department of Biology at Hong Kong Baptist University who led the research , said in avideo . " Another feature of the box jellyfish is that it has six eyes located on each side of its torso . "
researcher name the newfound speciesTripedalia maipoensisafterMai Po Nature Reservein Hong Kong , where they found it . They describe its lineament and kinship to other loge jellies in a study publish March 20 in the journalZoological Studies .
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T. maipoensisis the first - ever box jelly to be found in Chinese pee . It is unclear whether the half - inch - foresightful ( 1.5 centimeters ) animal can sting humans , but it may be poisonous enough to stun bantam shrimp calledArtemia . " It seemed to paralyzeArtemiaoffered in the science laboratory , " Qiu tell Live Science in an electronic mail . " But we did not touch the animal to experience the sting . "
The researcher first noticed the unusual creatures in samples collected from an intertidal shrimp pool , known as a " gei wai " locally , during the summers of 2020 to 2022 . The jellyfish were " quite abundant , " Qiu severalize Live Science , numerate " up to 400 individuals in an surface area of the pond . " A tidal transmission channel from the brackish pool mean that the species could also be present in the adjacent piddle of the Pearl River estuary , but no work has been done yet to support this , the researchers write in the work .
Box jellyfish , which are also have intercourse as ocean wasps , move by allowing pee to enter duct that run along a powerful tissue layer on the bottom of their body and then expelling it . The researchers found that , unlike intimately related coinage , T. maipoensishas forked canals separating into multiple branches . The newly discovered specie is the third have a go at it member of a group of boxful jellies characterise by tentacles ending in flat , paddle - like structure , called Tripedalia .
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The scientist also noted that each bunch of six eye on the gelatin ' cubic Alexander Graham Bell includes a yoke of eyes with lenses that enable image - forming , as well as four center that can only sense light .
The species probably feed on little crustaceans predict copepod , which were abundant in the sample taken from the shrimp pond , Qiu told Live Science .
" We are thrilled with this discovery , " Qiu said in the video . " Finding a new metal money in Mai Po , where broad research has been conducted , highlights the potential for more maritime life discovery in the Hong Kong and even the Chinese coastal waters . "
