Patricia Holden MD|

I’ve been writing (or should that be typing?) about another jellyfish post earlier when my daughter came up to me and mentioned how beautiful they are. Having been stung by jellyfish before, the memory of the incident actually caused me to view them in a different way. However, thanks to my daughter’s comment, I became open to the idea of simply listing a few of the more beautiful jellyfishes I’ve seen.

Aequorea Victoria - A bioluminescent jellyfish. They are commonly found in Puget Sound, Washington State. Adult Aequorea victoria reach about 5 to 10 cm in diameter and live to around 6 months or less. They feed primarily on soft-bodied prey including other jellyfishes, ctenophores, and appendicularians. The luminescent protein and their fluorescent molecule have been cloned by scientists to produce a similar effect in other plants and animals.

Aurelia Aurita - Also called the moon jellyfish or saucer jellyfish. Simply look at the picture and you would see how it got its nickname. They can be found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Ocean and are the most common species of the genus Aurelia. It is only capable of limited motion and drifts along with the current. It feeds by stinging small plankton and mollusks with its tentacles and then bringing them to the body for digestion by contracting its tentacles in a corkscrew like manner. It is considered as food in countries such as China, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Chironex fleckeri - Known for its highly venomous sting, the box jellyfish Chironex fleckeri is one of the most dangerous jellyfish around. It is said that it can kill 60 adult humans in as little as 3 minutes. It is is the largest of the cubozoans, and is pale blue in color. What makes it extremely dangerous is it’s color which makes it virtually undetectable by swimmers. The only creature known to be immune to their stings are their predators - sea turtles. They can be found mostly near northern Australia and sometimes near Southeast Asia.

Chrysaora colorata - Also called the purple-striped jelly. It can be found mostly off the coast of California. Its body, known for the radial pattern of its stripes, can grow to around 70 centimeters in diameter. Even though it is not shown in the picture, it has 8 long tentacles and 4 shorter ones at the center.

Pelagia noctiluca - Also known as Mauve Stingers. Its name, Pelagia noctiluca was formed from the Greek words Pelagia meaning “of the sea”, nocti meaning “night”, and luca meaning “light” - in other words, its name refers to a sea creature that lights up in the dark. It can be found in warm temperate waters like the Mediterranean sea but there have also been sightings near Hawaii. According to one report back in November 21, 2007: an enormous 10-square mile swarm of billions of these jellyfish wiped out a 100,000-fish salmon farm in Northern Ireland. These days, mauve stingers are treated as a menace by mediteranean resort owners. Read about it here.