This rare jellyfish, scientifically dubbed Chirodectes maculatus, was first discovered and caught in 1997 by a team of Australian scientists. The first ever specimen caught was transparent, spotted, and only about 6 inches long. In a 2005 memoir of the Queensland Museum, researchers wrote that they were “reluctant to dissect the unique specimen. In fact, will send to you as in from out of isolation it had become so stiff and brittle that further detailed study might have damaged it […]” They did provide a detailed drawing of the jellyfish, which was classified as a type of box jellyfish, which are usually venomous.
The first jelly was found off the shores of Queensland, Australia. The recent specimen was caught on video just off the coast of Papua New Guinea, which is close geographically, located to the northeast of Australia. Experts are still not sure whether this really is the second sighting ever of the rare C. maculatus. We lack information about the specimens to know for sure, but most take an educated guess and say that this really is the rare and alluring C. maculatus.
The video above was taken by a local company offering scuba diving accommodation. They were going on a routine dive and saw “a new type of jellyfish.“ They uploaded the video to their Facebook page, where they described the jellyfish as being slightly larger than a soccer ball and swimming quite fast.
H/T: Vice
