Scientists have described a brand new species of extremely venomous field jellyfish based mostly on specimens that had been lurking close to a Singaporean island previously generally known as Pulau Blakang Mati, or the “Island of Dying Behind,” in 2020 and 2021.
The newly described species, Chironex blakangmati, was named after the island’s unique, ominous identify in Malay, slightly than its identify since 1972, Sentosa, which suggests “peace and tranquility.” That is becoming, given how harmful the animal is.
Beforehand, scientists had mistaken C. blakangmati for an additional field jellyfish species, C. yamaguchii. Nevertheless, it seems that these field jellies are totally different, each genetically and morphologically, scientists reported in a brand new examine, revealed Could 15 within the journal Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
“C. blakangmati seems remarkably like Chironex yamaguchii — a jellyfish species I first found in Okinawa whereas doing my grasp’s diploma there,” examine co-author Cheryl Ames, a professor of utilized marine biology at Tohoku College in Japan and a analysis affiliate on the Smithsonian Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past in Washington, D.C., mentioned in a assertion. “However we realized they had been fully distinct. I truly went again to mud off an previous pattern of C. yamaguchii I nonetheless had in storage in Okinawa to assist with the comparisons!”
The researchers discovered that the newly recognized species lacks branched canal buildings on the backside of its bell-shaped physique that C. yamaguchii and the opposite two Chironex species, C. fleckeri and C. indrasaksajiae, exhibit. Particularly, these canals sit inside the perradial lappets, that are flaps reinforcing the musculature that propels field jellyfish once they swim. Along with genetic discrepancies, this anatomical distinction confirmed that C. blakangmati is a separate species, in accordance with the assertion.
“Our thorough evaluate and evaluation of all of the Chironex species recognized thus far reveal quite a bit about these field jellyfishes,” examine co-author Danwei Huang, an affiliate professor within the Nationwide College of Singapore’s Division of Organic Sciences and the Lee Kong Chian Pure Historical past Museum, mentioned within the assertion.
The evaluation was based mostly on jellyfish specimens that washed up on Singapore seashores in 2020 and 2021. The newfound species is marked in blue, whereas Thai sea wasps are proven in crimson.
The outcomes additionally revealed for the primary time that C. indrasaksajiae, which is usually discovered off the coast of Thailand, is current in Singapore’s waters. Nicknamed the Thai sea wasp, this species might be lethal.
“We had been stunned to search out C. indrasaksajiae so distant from Thailand,” Ames mentioned. “Recording vary expansions like these is de facto vital, as we presently know so little concerning the biodiversity and spatial distribution of field jellyfish.”
A greater understanding of the distribution of field jellies might assist forestall extreme accidents and deaths in people, in accordance with the assertion.
Data recommend field jellyfish stings trigger round 40 deaths per 12 months globally, however some specialists suppose that quantity is a large underestimate.
Iesa, I., Ames, C. L., Yap, N. W. L. & Huang, D. (2026). Chironex field jellyfishes (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Chirodropida) in Singapore: Chironex blakangmati, new species, and vary extension of C. indrasaksajiae. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. http://dx.doi.org/10.26107/RBZ-2026-0026
