<\/p>\n
Researchers have discovered a new species of tripedaria jellyfish in a shrimp pond in Hong Kong’s Mai Po Nature Reserve. This animal is only about half an inch long, making it difficult to spot in murky pond water.<\/p>\n
This discovery added the fourth member described to the family Tripedidae<\/em>a small group of closely related box jellyfish. Collectively, these strange creatures make up small groups such as: cnidarians<\/em>so far only 49 species are known worldwide.<\/p>\n
The research was led by Professor Chiu Chien-wen of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), a marine biologist who tracks how coastal ecosystems respond to change. His research focuses on marine invertebrates, which are backboneless animals that live in the sea.<\/p>\n His team collected nightly samples from shrimp ponds between mangroves and open estuaries between the summers of 2020 and 2022. Estuaries, or coastal areas where rivers and oceans meet, bring in the tides that keep these ponds fresh.<\/p>\n The water there is a mix of freshwater and seawater, slightly salty and brackish. Amidst the mixture of browns and greens, transparent jellyfish can slip through the net unless you’re looking very carefully.<\/p>\n Tripedaria mypoensis<\/em> It has a nearly colorless transparent bell in the shape of a rounded cube. The bell measures about six-tenths of an inch from top to bottom, keeping the animal large enough to hide among plant stems.<\/p>\n Each horn of this jellyfish has three flat pedalia extending outward, muscular pads that anchor the tentacles and help push water out as the jellyfish swims. From the tip of every pad hangs a single tentacle that reaches about 4 inches in length.<\/p>\n When the bell is squeezed or loosened, the thin velarium, a muscular sheet that partially closes the opening, helps focus the water flow behind the jellyfish. <\/p>\n Tripedaria mypoensis<\/em> They use this concentrated propulsion to swim faster than many other jellyfish that drift with weaker pulses.<\/p>\n Using a microscope, the researchers confirmed that the jellyfish shares several characteristics with its Caribbean relatives. Tripedaria cystophora<\/em> However, they differ in some important characteristics. <\/p>\n This new species has three pedalia on each corner of the bell, only one tentacle on each pad, and a bifurcated canal in the velarium.<\/p>\n Beyond appearances, scientists have used the DNA of several genes to construct a family tree, or family tree, that shows how species are related. <\/p>\n Their comparison is Tripedaria mypoensis<\/em> next to Tripedaria cystophora<\/em>confirming that the two are not one species but closely related.<\/p>\n One important data set came from rRNA, a type of genetic material often used to compare species. In the 16S rRNA gene, Tripedaria mypoensis<\/em> It was different from Tripedaria cystophora<\/em> The difference is about 17.4 percent, which is large enough to support the naming of a new species.<\/p>\n Like their close relatives, Tripedaria mypoensis<\/em> It has 24 eyes arranged in four clusters on a structure called a roparia. A rhopalium, a sensory club that holds each eye chamber, hangs slightly below the end of the bell.<\/p>\n In each cluster, two large lenticular eyes, a smaller lenticular eye forming images, handle most of the detailed vision. The remaining four solar plexuses and elongated eyes are not sharply shaped and are simple organs that primarily track light and darkness.<\/p>\n In an experiment with Tripedaria cystophora<\/em>Scientists have discovered some upward-facing eyes that help the jellyfish stay under the mangrove canopy. <\/p>\n Its eyes are always directed toward the world above the water, giving the animal enough visual guidance to navigate around roots and other obstacles.<\/p>\n Tripedaria mypoensis<\/em> Because they share this eye type layout, they may also use certain eyes for tasks such as hunting and navigation. <\/p>\n Researchers now need to test exactly how this new species responds to light and shade in its muddy pond habitat.<\/p>\n Box jellyfish may seem simple, but their behavior suggests amazing mental abilities for such small, soft animals. They can swim quickly, avoid obstacles, and maintain position in sunny areas where small crustaceans gather.<\/p>\n Recent learning experiments Tripedaria cystophora<\/em> These jellyfish show that they can change the way they swim after hitting an obstacle. <\/p>\n That behavior is compatible with associative learning, the process by which animals link experiences to subsequent actions. Tripedaria cystophora<\/em> Although the brain is not unitary, it does have a central nervous system, a network that coordinates signals from the eyes and muscles. <\/p>\n because Tripedaria mypoensis<\/em> Jellyfish are so closely related that scientists suspect they share some of these learning abilities when testing them directly.<\/p>\n Tripedaria mypoensis<\/em> The box jellyfish is the first box jellyfish to be officially reported from China’s coastal waters, changing the way scientists map the group’s global range. <\/p>\n This habitat, located in a managed shrimp pond near a downtown area, shows that the anthropomorphic landscape may harbor an as-yet-unnamed species.<\/p>\n For conservationists, each new species increases local biodiversity, or all the types of living things in an ecosystem. <\/p>\n The discovery of extra species in well-studied reserves like Mai Po has led scientists to suspect that even more creatures may be hiding in the tranquil wetlands.<\/p>\n This research zoology<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for fascinating articles, exclusive content and the latest updates.<\/p>\n Check us out on EarthSnap, the free app from Eric Ralls and Earth.com.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Strange #creature #eyes #discovered #Hong #Kong #pond<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Researchers have discovered a new species of tripedaria jellyfish in a shrimp pond in Hong Kong’s Mai Po Nature Reserve. This animal is only about half an inch long, making it difficult to spot in murky pond water. This discovery added the fourth member described to the family Tripedidaea small group of closely related box … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1509,690,2455,2456,2457,2458,2094],"class_list":["post-1003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-creature","tag-discovered","tag-eyes","tag-hong","tag-kong","tag-pond","tag-strange"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Amazing jellyfish discovery<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/div>\nmeet Tripedaria mypoensis<\/em><\/h2>\n
How do we know it’s a new species?<\/h2>\n
What you can actually do with 24 eyes<\/h2>\n
Learning and behavior without using the brain<\/h2>\n
lessons from Tripedalia Maipoensi<\/em><\/h2>\n