Like a scene out of a Jules Verne novel, scientists from Schmidt Ocean Institute recently encountered a giant phantom jelly (Stygiomedusa gigantea). The enormous deep-sea jellyfish was spotted about 830 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean by a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) exploring the Colorado-Rawson submarine canyon wall off the coast of Argentina.
During a dive over the winter holidays, the team explored the wall of a submarine canyon and encountered the creature—also called the giant phantom jelly. It is a very rare find, with only about 118 sightings over 110 years. It is believed to be widespread throughout the world’s oceans, except in the Arctic Ocean. Giant phantom jellyfish have four long oral arms that do not sting the way the tentacles on other jellyfish do. Instead, they use these appendages to grab their prey and guide it towards their mouths
According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in California, they can reach lengths of 3.3 feet across and 33 feet long. MBARI’s ROV Tiburon previously spotted a fish swimming alongside of the giant phantom jelly during an expedition to the Gulf of California. The team watched the fish hover above the jellyfish’s bulbous body and swim in and out of its arms. Since the waters of the ocean’s Midnight Zone (about 3,300 to 13,100 feet) offer little shelter, many creatures find shelter in the gelatinous animals like jellyfish that live here.
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