Distinctive New Species of Crowned Medusa Makes Experts Reevaluate Jellyfish Royalty

Despite years of research on various examples of deep-sea crown Jelly known as Atolla, the genetic confirmation of a new species is prompting biologists to redefine at least one of the key characteristics.

Zoologists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in the US think they need to invent a whole new branch of the family tree for the newly coroneted Atolla reynoldsi.

The coronate medusa are less than 4 inches across and have a bell with bumpy ridges.

The bioluminescent jellies are found in a lot of the world's marine waters. When biologists wanted to take a picture of a giant squid last year, it was the signature flashing of one of the jellyfish they copied as a lure.

Keeping track of life above sea level is difficult for biologists. It takes perseverance and technology to collect the most basic details from benthic beasties, even hundreds of meters beneath the ocean's surface.

Thanks to their fleet of deep-sea research vessels, MBARI has captured a lot of information on the characteristics of these beautiful animals.

10 species have been formally assigned to the genus. Three are easy to distinguish, while the rest are hard to tell apart.

One thing biologists thought was an Atolla signature trait was a single, super-long tentacle that trailed from its coif of curls.

Stretching up to six times the diameter of its bell, these appendages are thought to be a tool for grabbing ghostly threads of siphonophores that float about in the open seas.

In the past 15 years, three types of Atolla have occasionally been spotted without a distinguishing appendage, leaving researchers scratching their heads over the reliability of their checklist for classifying some of the more ambiguous examples of these animals.

The official recognition of Atolla reynoldsi as a genetically distinct species means that it has its own unique characteristics, including a relatively large size of 13 centimeters.

It is a decision biologists often face as new specimen come to light, throwing into question the usefulness of existing boundaries between branches of life.

It might be time for a new line of royalty to blossom in our ocean, with two more potential novel species of the crowned jellyfish waiting evidence for classification.

The new jellies underscore how much we still have to learn about the deep sea.

We learn something new on every dive into the depths of Monterey Bay.

The research was published in an animal journal.