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.

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

Jellyfish are much smarter than previously thought, reveals new research – despite only having 1,000 nerve cells and no centralised brain. The study showed that poisonous Caribbean box jellyfish can learn at a far more complex level than ever imagined.

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.

Jellyfish have been found to possess the ability to learn and are far cleverer than previously thought - suggesting that not having a brain is seemingly no barrier to being intelligent. The fingernail-sized Caribbean box jellyfish does not have a centralised brain but scientists trained them to dodge obstacles by learning.