A rare type of freshwater jellyfish appears to be thriving in a river in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Schools of endangered freshwater jellyfish were observed by a group of police officers conducting a dive-training session in a river in the region's Du'an Yao Autonomous County in June of this year.

Wei Qinghua, a police diving coach who first noticed the jellyfish, found thousands of the creatures in an underwater cave and took pictures of them. The pictures were then sent to biologists at the Chinese Academy of Science.

The biologists concluded that the animals Wei saw were freshwater jellyfish, also known as peach blossom jellyfish for their resemblance to the flower, said Lan Qifu, head of the county's tourism bureau.

Lan said they also sent samples of the jellyfish to the South China Agricultural University, located in south China's city of Guangzhou, in early August.

Tong Xiaoli, an environmental professor at the university, said that the creatures have been confirmed to be freshwater jellyfish.

"They look very unique and beautiful, but it is hard to tell what specific species they belong to," Tong said.

"We will need to work with foreign experts in order to determine their species," he added.

Freshwater jellyfish are occasionally found in China's Guangdong, Fujian and Shandong provinces, Tong said. He added that the jellyfish found in Guangxi look different from those found in other provinces.

"If they are confirmed to be a new species, they will have tremendous research value," Tong said.

In early August, a resident of Guangxi's city of Baise also claimed to have found freshwater jellyfish near an irrigation project.

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