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Scientists piloting a remote submarine have shoot mesmerise footage of a gargantuan phantom predator lurking in the deep water of Monterey Bay , California .
The jumbo phantom jellyfish ( Stygiomedusa gigantea ) was captured as it was serenely float — its retentive , velvety " mouth - limb " drop back around it — at a depth of 3,200 foot ( 975 meters ) by marine biologists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute ( MBARI ) . This is one of only nine times that MBARI scientists have spotted the baffling creature across the institute ’s many yard of submarine honkytonk .
The phantom jellyfish (Stygiomedusa gigantea) is one of the ocean’s most elusive animals.
" The gargantuan phantom jelly was first collected in 1899 . Since then , scientist have only encountered this animal about 100 times , " MBARIsaid in a statement .
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The giant phantom , which is among the bombastic man-of-war on the planet , has been spotted in the deepest parts of all the worldly concern ’s ocean except for theArctic . Even so , MBARI tell that sightings of the creature are still rare , as it usually survive too far down for mankind or distant submarines to access .
The mouth-arms of the phantom jellyfish trail behind it like scarves in the wind.
The sunhat regulate - campana of the deep - sea dweller is more than 3.3 feet ( 1 metre ) wide , and it ’s typewriter ribbon - like mouth - arms can acquire to more than 33 feet ( 10 chiliad ) in duration , MBARI say .
Not much is known about phantom Portuguese man-of-war , but scientists think it uses its backtalk - arms , which stream like loose scarf in its Wake Island , to snare unfortunate fair game and winch them up to its oral fissure . The creature propels itself through the pitch - shameful depth of the ocean with periodic pulses from its faintly - glowing orange head .
Before the deployment of remote controlled submarines like the one used for this expedition , scientist often used trawl line net to capture deep - sea creatures . This was ideal for studying some tool , but not deep - sea jellyfish , MBARI say .
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" These nets can be useful for research robust creatures like Pisces the Fishes , crustaceans andsquids , " MBARI say . " But jelly decompose into gelatinous goo in trotline nets . "
Jellyfish are some of the most common fauna to be found in the deep ocean , the compressible , squidgy gelatin of their bodies enable them to survive incredibly high pressures . However , much about the brainless creatures remains to be discovered . It was once assumed that jellyfish were largely unimportant in mystifying - sea ecology , buta 2017 studyby MBARI researchers showed that these cnidarians are actually among the most of import predator in the dark depths , competing withcephalopodslike calamari , as well as fish and evenblue whalesfor food .
in the beginning publish on Live Science .
