New discoveries

Research into jellyfish taxonomy and life cycles has increased due to greater contact with humans and the reasonable point of their danger to humans. The many new discoveries that have been made about jellyfish and their popularity as symbol of the beauty and fragility of the oceans are reflected in even television specials, such as in "Jellyfish Invasion," a one-hour episode of the National Geographic Channel documentary series Explorer, which includes research conducted by scientists in Australia, Hawaii and Japan. Among the latest discoveries, some of which contradict what was previously believed about these creatures, are:

•    While it had been previously established that the box jellyfish has four stomachs or gastric pouches, four eyes appear as small spots on each side of its bell, the circular umbrella like body which propels through water, allowing the inverterbrae to have 360 degree vision, it has been found that it also has four separate brains which appear to compete for dominance, as well as four clusters of six well-developed eyes. These eyes allow them to consciously hunt for their prey, as well as to use landmarks outside the water to navigate by. There is also a suggestion that they have colour perception, a test with coloured objects placed in the water showed the jellyfish bumping into white-coloured objects, navigating around black-coloured ones and shying away from red.
•    The turritopsis nutricula jellyfish appears to be immortal, rejuvenating itself after it becomes an adult.