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A newly identified moon jellyfish species, Aurelia profunda, was first spotted glowing near boat lights during a Gulf research expedition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Texas A&M University<\/p>\n
A new moon<\/a> has been discovered in the Gulf<\/a> near Texas. Moon jellyfish<\/a>, that is.<\/p>\n It started with a single, glowing pulse in the dark.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n While on a research expedition offshore near Louisiana<\/a>, Alexandra\u00a0Frolova Ruthenbeck, a former Texas A&M University at Galveston<\/a> doctoral student, noticed something unusual drifting near the boat lights.<\/p>\n “I saw something pulsing in the water column near the boat lights. We scooped it up and it was a beautiful moon jellyfish<\/a> carrying many larvae,” recalled Ruthenbeck<\/a>. “What was kind of amazing was that this was the only jellyfish we saw on the entire five-day cruise.”<\/p>\n That lone jellyfish would turn out to be something scientists hadn’t documented before.<\/p>\n Dr. Maria Pia Miglietta, a marine biologist at Texas A&M Galveston, helped identify and study a newly discovered moon jellyfish species from the Gulf.\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas A&M University<\/p>\n Not only was it a never-before-seen specimen, but it was also carrying larvae, a state Dr. Maria Pia Miglietta, associate professor of marine biology<\/a> at Texas A&M Galveston, described as the jellyfish equivalent of being pregnant. That rare find gave researchers a fleeting window to do something even rarer: follow a brand-new species through its entire life cycle.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Back in the lab, the team reared the larvae\u2014known as\u00a0planulae\u2014into polyps, the tiny, bottom-dwelling stage of a jellyfish’s life. From there, they watched the polyps reproduce asexually and eventually undergo strobilation, the process that releases juvenile jellyfish, or ephyrae, into the water column. Tracking every stage, from larvae to full-grown medusae, allowed scientists to confirm they weren’t looking at a variation of a known species, but something entirely new.<\/p>\n The species is now known as\u00a0Aurelia profunda, a newly identified moon jellyfish that lives deep within the Gulf<\/a>.<\/p>\n “In the Gulf<\/a>, we used to have three species of Aurelia,” Miglietta said. “Now we have four.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Scientists identified Aurelia profunda after collecting a rare specimen carrying larvae in the Gulf.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dr. Maria Pia Miglietta<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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