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Jellyfish are much smarter than previously thought, reveals new research – despite only having 1,000 nerve cells and no centralised brain.

In what could be excused as a dictionary definition of futility, scientists have tried to teach a species of boxed jellyfish (Tripedalia cystophora) a few simple tricks to test whether learning necessitates a brain.

Caribbean box jellyfish are barely a centimetre long and have no brain. The Caribbean box jellyfish, or Tripedalia cystophora, is known to be able to navigate through murky water and a maze of submerged mangrove roots. 

Instead of a centralized brain, the Caribbean box jellyfish uses four brain-like structures to thrive the ocean.

The creature only has a simple nervous system but can be trained to dodge obstacles

No bigger than fingernail, the Caribbean box jellyfish hosts a complex visual system of 24 eyes that allows them to recognise obstacles while navigating mangrove habitats.

Even without a central brain, jellyfish can learn from past experiences like humans, mice, and flies, scientists report for the first time on September 22 in the journal Current Biology. They trained Caribbean box jellyfish (Tripedalia cystophora) to learn to spot and dodge obstacles. The study challenges previous notions that advanced learning requires a centralized brain and sheds light on the evolutionary roots of learning and memory.

Because box jellyfish are so distantly related to other animals, the research findings could hint at how the ability to learn first evolved.

It turns out that, even though they have no brains, they can learn and form memories.

Caribbean box jellyfish, animals that may appear to float through life aimlessly and don’t have a central brain, still have the ability to learn rapidly and retain information, new research has found.