Provided by Texas A&M University at Galveston

While heads were turned skyward as astronauts made a historic journey to the moon, researchers at Texas A&M University at Galveston announced the discovery of a new species of moon jellyfish deep in the Gulf.

Since moon jellyfish are one of the most well-studied types of jellyfish in the world, associate professor Maria Pia Miglietta, who helped identify the species named Aurelia profunda, said the finding highlights how much more there is to discover in the ocean.

“We’re still discovering new species in this very well-studied group and so this indicates how little we know about the biodiversity in general of these animals and probably a lot of animals,” Miglietta said. “It indicates that we still need to explore the ocean, especially the Gulf of Mexico.”

The university publicized the discovery on April 9, the day before four astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean to complete a 10-day exploration around the moon and back. NASA’s Artemis II mission marked the first time in more than 50 years that humans traveled to the moon.

Back on Earth, Miglietta said the discovery of Aurelia profunda means there are now four recognized moon jellyfish species in the Gulf. The aquatic organisms earned their nickname due to their translucent, moon-like bell.

The new speciesstands out because it’s smaller than the typical adult moon jellyfish.

“It was also in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. You usually find these animals close to the coastline,” Miglietta said.

It was one of Miglietta’s students who spotted the female jellyfish offshore near Louisiana in July 2017 during a research expedition.

“She found this jellyfish, put it in a bucket and brought it back to the laboratory,” Miglietta said.

Come to find out, the female jellyfish was full of larvae, the equivalent of being pregnant, according to a Texas A&M University at Galveston news release. Researchers cultivated the larvae and grew hundreds of polyps, the earliest stage of a jellyfish life cycle. Essentially, the researchers were able to restart the life cycle of a jellyfish and watch it from the beginning.

Researchers waited for the polyps to produce new jellyfish so they could obtain adult jellyfish and describe the full life cycle. That’s what they did when researchers wrote a peer-reviewed paper, confirming the new species near the end of 2025.

“It’s thrilling,” Miglietta said. “It’s beautiful to know that there are new species out there that we are still discovering and it felt like a responsibility and the right thing to do to put the effort to describe it.”

Miglietta said there are 28 genetically recognized moon jellyfish species around the world, and 13 of them have the entire life cycle described. Aurelia profunda is now one of those 13.