Deep-Sea Jelly Reignites Debate on Remote Species Identification

Researchers say they have discovered a novel species of comb jelly using video footage, but they couldn’t recover a physical specimen. Is that enough?

Max Kozlov

| 4 min read

Listen with Speechify

0:00

4:00

ABOVE: An image taken by a remotely operated vehicle of an apparently novel species of comb jelly
NOAA OFFICE OF OCEAN EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH

Nearly two and a half miles below the surface of the ocean, in what’s known as the “midnight zone” because no sunlight can reach it, a remotely operated vehicle caught something strange in its video feed. At first, the object appeared to be a tiny party balloon. As the vehicle grew closer, an iridescent sphere about the size of a tennis ball filled the frame. Two long tentacles extended downward from its translucent body as it drifted by, hovering above the seafloor.

The video feed of this strange encounter was broadcast live on Facebook in 2015 to thousands of viewers as a staff scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) narrated. Later that day, oceanographer Allen Collins, also at NOAA, was scrolling through his Facebook ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

Max Kozlov
Max is a science journalist from Boston. Though he studied cognitive neuroscience, he now prefers to write about brains rather than research them. Prior to writing for The Scientist as an editorial intern in late 2020 and early 2021, Max worked at the Museum of Science in Boston, where his favorite part of the job was dressing in a giant bee costume and teaching children about honeybees. He was also a AAAS Mass Media Fellow, where he worked as a science reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Read more of his work at www.maxkozlov.com.
View full profile