Mystery Gelatinous Party Balloon-Like Animal Discovered In Puerto Rico [VIDEO]

In 2015, scientists encountered a peculiar creature that was shaped like a party balloon and had a gelatinous texture. After five years, they finally have a name for that mystery animal found off a Puerto Rican shore.

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) named the ocean creature Duobrachium sparksae. They identified it as a new species of ctenophore or what is more popularly known as the comb jellies.

Deep Discoverer, a remotely operated underwater vehicle, was instrumental in finally identifying and naming the new ctenophore species. Details of the whole process were published in the journal Plankton and Benthos Research.

The high-resolution video produced by Deep Discoverer made the scientists capable of observing the fascinating behavior of the Duobrachium sparksae.

"It moved like a hot air balloon attached to the seafloor on two lines, maintaining a specific altitude above the seafloor," Mike Ford, NOAA fisheries scientist, explained in a press release.

"Most comb jellies have eight rows of comb-like cilia that rhythmically beat, refracting light into colors, as they paddle through the water," Ford pointed out.

Apart from having a peculiar appearance, the new jelly comb species shares a few similarities with other ctenophores. For example, it has long tentacles as well.

"We can consider that it serves similar roles to other ctenophores near the ocean floor and it also has some similarities to other ctenophores in open ocean areas," Ford added.

What has yet to be identified is whether the new species is also carnivorous and an efficient predator that preys on small arthropods and larvae.

There have been about 100 to 150 species of comb jellies identified and validated in the past years. Comb jellies have been living in the ocean for at least 500 million years now. They look like jellyfishes but the two species are not related.

The discovery of the Duobrachium sparksae took place as part of NOAA's underwater exploration aimed at documenting the deep-sea ecosystems and seafloor within Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.