Duobrachium sparksae

Nobody will ever say that the name Duobrachium sparksae is simple to say or remember, but until someone comes up with a better one, that's all we have. It is a type of comb jelly that was just recently found in the waters off Puerto Rico in 2015.

The tiny creature, which resembles a kind of living bubble, survives in extremely deep waters at a depth of roughly 3,900 meters. The lengthy tendril-like appendages that hang off of it, according to scientists, give it the appearance of a hot air balloon. It resembles a box when viewed from the tentacle side. Actually, there are two arms that the central blob may project considerably longer tentacles from. The creature's 12 to 22-inch-long retractable tentacles anchor it to the ocean floor and aid in controlling its location.

When viewed from the tentacular plane, the animal seems round, but when viewed from the perpendicular plane, it appears rectangular. It has two long tentacle arms that stretch downward from the center of the sides of the body. These are roughly one-third the length of the body. These arms have retractable tentacles that are between 12 and 22 inches (30 to 56 centimeters) long. These help the animals stick to the ocean floor.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Ctenophora
Class: Tentaculata
Order: Cydippida
Genus: Duobrachium
Species: D. sparksae