Rare ‘phantom' jellyfish, as large as school bus, filmed off Argentine coast

Scientists made a breathtaking deep-sea discovery by catching giant phantom jellyfish on camera.

The phantom jellyfish (Stygiomedusa gigantea) was found at approximately 830ft below the surface of the Pacific waters of the Colorado-Rawson submarine canyon.

The jellyfish was almost the size of a bus, spanning 3.3ft across four trailing arms that can extend more than 10 meters (33ft) long.

There have been only 120 sightings of this rare creature over the past 110 years.

Unlike many jellyfish, the giant phantom utilises its ribbon-like arms to envelop prey instead of using a sting.

ROV pilots filmed this giant jelly phantom fish during an ROV descent to explore the Colorado-Rawson submarine canyon wall.

The find was made as a result of an expedition to map the seafloor, led by Argentine researchers. In addition to the new species, 28 suspected new species were recorded, as well as the largest known coral reef of its type in the world’s oceans.

Dr. Melisa Fernandez Severini, a lead scientist on the expedition, said, “We collected an unprecedented number of samples that will be used to understand connections in our waters for years to come.”