I sometimes wonder, when zoologists discover a new species, will it feel like playing a game and suddenly triggering the only hidden mission in the country? So I have wanted to pursue this career since I was a child, but I was too bad at studying. I couldn't study animals, so I settled on promoting them.

Therefore, I always pay close attention to information about the discovery of new species around the world. Recently, I saw a report on the release of new species published in the journal "Zoological Research". The protagonist was discovered in our country, and his origin is unknown. Small.

For the first time, a new species of box jellyfish was discovered in my country

Qiu Jianwen, a professor at the Department of Biology at Hong Kong Baptist University, and his team were conducting research on marine animals in Mai Po Nature Reserve. An ultra-small box jellyfish that is completely unknown to science was discovered in a saltwater shrimp pond in the intertidal zone. This is the first time a box jellyfish has been discovered in Chinese waters! And the number is very abundant. The research team found more than 400 of them in one shrimp pond. This saltwater pond is connected to the waters near the Pearl River Estuary, which means that this new species of jellyfish may also exist there.

This small jellyfish, which is only about 1.5 cm in size, has 24 eyes, arranged in 4 groups of 6 on the body, distributed on both sides of the body. Each set of six eyes includes a pair of eyes with lenses that form images, and four eyes that sense light. . It has a completely transparent and colorless bell-shaped body and 12 tentacles. The ends of the tentacles have special structures that allow them to travel through the water faster than most other jellyfish.

According to data from the State Oceanic Administration, the box jellyfish is The world's most venomous marine animals include the Australian box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri). This is the first time a box jellyfish has been discovered in my country. Professor Qiu Jianwen initially thought it was an ordinary jellyfish. After morphological description and experiments, he determined its relationship with other box jellyfish.

The jellyfish is named T. maipoensis, which can be called Maipoensis when translated into Chinese. Their toxicity is not as terrifying as other relatives, but their paralysis is very strong for such a size. Just touching them casually can make arthropods such as brine shrimp lose their ability to move instantly. Currently, their toxicity has not been tested. There are research results.

Although they are super mini, their structure is exquisite, especially in terms of swimming speed. They are ingenious. They let water pass through the bottom of their bodies. The muscle membrane runs a tube and then expels it to move. This structure is not unique among jellyfish, but there are multiple branches in their tubes, which can provide faster acceleration and steering force.

The species likely feeds on small crustaceans called copepods, as there were large numbers of copepods in the samples the team collected from shrimp ponds.

Postscript

Such a discovery is worth getting excited about and shows that China's coastal waters still have a lot of potential for discovering marine life.

I will also pay close attention to this kind of news and try to share it with you as soon as possible.