Researchers have discovered a colonial jellyfish-like species whose way of moving baffled them. As per the researchers, the species uses a multi-jet propulsion system to navigate environments.

As per reports of Marine Biological Laboratory, there are a number of marine animals that use jet propulsion system to navigate their environments, but the entire colony of Nanomia bijuga uses the system, and it is very rare.

John H. Costello, an Adjunct Scientist and Whitman Center Investigator at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole and lead author, said the system used by the new species is really efficient as no developmental stage is wasted in it. In this system, leading end of the colony is handled by young members, which with the help of their small jets help the colony to turn. The older members of the colony are always positioned at the end to propel the colony with their larger jets.

To discover more about the species, the researchers monitored Friday Harbor in Washington with cameras. They filmed some videos and used them to see particle movement around the colony of Nanomia. The researchers found that the youngest members had the lowest jet propulsion power, but they also had a big effect on the position of the group.

According to Costello, the colony's young member can be called long lever arm. They are like the handle of a door. "If you push on a door near its hinges--its axis of rotation--the door is hard to open. But if you push on the door handle, which is far from the axis of rotation, the door opens easily", Costello added.