Cube-shaped creature with 24 eyes discovered hiding in pond in Hong Kong, study says

Scientists let down a net and scooped up water from a brownish-green pond in Hong Kong. As they looked closer at their catch, they found a cube-shaped 24-eyed creature looking back — and discovered a new species.

The researchers found the creature hiding in the “brackish water” of shrimp ponds at Mai Po Nature Reserve, according to a study published March 20 in the journal Zoological Studies. They returned three summers in a row and kept finding more of these creatures.

The scientists analyzed the animals and discovered a new species of box jellyfish, the study said.

Box jellyfish are named for their “cube-shaped” bodies, researchers said. This group of jellyfish contains “some of the most venomous marine animals in the world.”

The new species, Tripedalia maipoensis, has a see-through body with a slight whitish tinge, photos show. The jellyfish, measuring less than an inch long, has three tentacles extending from each corner of its body, the study said.

The jellyfish has 24 eyes arranged in sets of six, researchers said. On each side, the creature has two larger eyes — the upper and lower lens eyes — surrounded by four smaller eyes known as the pit and slit eyes.

Two of these eyes are used for seeing images while the other four are used to detect light, according to an April 18 news release from Hong Kong Baptist University.