Watch: This astonishing jellyfish shapeshifts and morphs on the seabed
The US’s Nautilus expedition was able to film both the creature as well a bright red crustacean that appeared to be living inside it.
An incredible video, released by the Nautilus expedition, gives us a peep at one of the most mysterious deep-ocean creatures in existence.
The mysterious ghostlike jellyfish, known as a Deepstaria jelly, is from the genus Deepstaria and is a relative of the mysterious D enigmatica. This jellyfish, as it shapeshifted from a bell-like structure to one like a silk scarf-like, in order to camouflage itself on the deep sea bed, had a passenger – a bright red crustacean inside its ghost-like netted mass.
“Lacking stinging tentacles like other jellies, Deepstaria can close the opening of its expansive bag-like bell, trapping any prey that has floated inside. The geometric mesh pattern is an intricate network of canals that lead back to its stomach at the top of the bell. As the jelly can reach a large size when inflated, these channels help distribute nutrients across the entire expanse,” scientists from the Nautilus wrote in a project log on their website.
Sponsored by the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the mission is focusing on seafloor mapping and acquiring of video, biological, chemical, and geological samples in deep-sea portions of the Pacific.