new denizen of the deep discovered

A mysterious new species of jellyfish has been found in the cold, deep, dark water of the Pacific Ocean. Marine biologists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California have discovered a jellyfish species they call granrojo (Spanish for “big red”) due to its large size — some are 3 feet wide — and its deep red color. Discovered in video images obtained by deep-diving remote-controlled subs, what makes this jellyfish interesting is that it has no tentacles: instead it sports four to seven fleshy arms. Though Big Reds, as they’re called, were first observed in 1993, only now have they been confirmed as a new species. Researchers still don’t what it eats, how it eats, who eats it, or how it reproduces.

This news brief appeared in the Random Data column of the Boston Globe’s Health/Science section on 5/13/2003.
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