‘Mysterious gelatinous creature’ spotted in uncharted reef in the Pacific, video shows

Researchers spotted an extremely rare sea creature while exploring an uncharted reef about 900 miles south of the Hawaiian islands.

The “mysterious gelatinous creature” baffled researchers when it first swam into view of their remote camera about 4,600 feet below the surface, according to a June 1 news release from the Nautilus, a vessel operated by the nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust.

“Oh my gosh, that is awesome,” a voice can be heard saying in a three-minute video released by the organization.

“I’ve never seen one with this many arms,” another voice said.

The bright-orange deep sea dweller looked more or less like an ordinary jellyfish except that it had three arm-like protrusions on its head.

Researchers initially identified it as a helmet jellyfish, but after communicating with another expert on shore, they determined it was a rare species in the Bathykorus genus.

The “bizarre” species had only been documented once before in 2015, and it has not been named.

“Using the rays on top of the bell, we believe this animal likely eats other gelatinous animals like jellies,” researchers said, adding, “You never know what we’ll find when exploring the deep ocean …”

The vast majority of ocean species have not yet been classified, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This story was originally published June 13, 2023 at 11:48 AM with the headline "‘Mysterious gelatinous creature’ spotted in uncharted reef in the Pacific, video shows."