World's Most Colorful and Unique Jellies

Jellies are more popularly known as jellyfish or sea jellies. Medusa is another word for jellyfish. These are

free-swimming marine creatures found in every ocean. Here's a list of colorful and unique species of sea

jellies.

Mediterranean Jellyfish (Cotylorhiza tuberculata)

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This large and colorful species is truly captivating and is also informally called Fried Egg Jellyfish. It is commonly

found in the Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea and Adriatic Sea.

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It can grow up to 35 cm in bell diameter. Its mouth-arms bifurcate near its base and branches several times.

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This beautiful sea jelly's synonyms include Medusa tuberculata, Cassiopea borbonica, Cephea tuberculata

and Cotylorhiza microtuberculata.

Spotted Jellyfish (Mastigias papua)

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The zooplankton-eater Spotted Jelly is also called Lagoon Jelly and lives mainly in the southern Pacific Ocean.

Instead of one single mouth, they appear to have several smaller mouth openings in its oral arms.

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Spotted Jellies are sold in Japan as novelty pets. This species is believed to have a lifespan of 4 months.

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Australian Spotted Jellyfish (Phyllorhiza punctata)

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The elegant-looking Australian Spotted Jellyfish or the White-spotted Jellyfish is native to the southwestern

Pacific. It can grow up to 62 cm in bell diameter but in 2007, a 72 cm. wide, perhaps the largest ever recorded,

was found on Sunset Beach, North Carolina.

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It has been found in large numbers in Gulf of Mexico and has also been found in the waters off the Hawaiian.

The Australian Spotted Jellyfish has a mild sting which can be cured with vinegar. Salt water can be used as a

last resort.

Big Red (Tiburonia granrojo)

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The amazing Granrojo or Big Red, a new species of jellyfish can grow up to 1 meter in bell diameter and is found

throughout the Pacific Ocean.

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It is one of the largest sea jellies and unusual in a number of ways. It lives at ocean depths of between 600 and

1500 meters. The entire jellyfish is deep red in color.

Flower Hat Jellyfish (Olindias formosa)

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The lovely and pretty Flower Hat Jelly is a rare species occurring primarily in waters off Brazil, Argentina and

Japan. It is characterized by lustrous tentacles that coil and adhere to its rim when not in use.

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Its bell is translucent and pinstriped with opaque bands, making it easily recognizable. It can grow up to 15 cm or

6 inches in diameter and feeds on small fish. Its sting is non-lethal but painful.

Mauve Stinger (Pelagia noctiluca)

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The beautiful Mauve Stinger is widely distributed in all warm and temperate waters of the world's oceans, including

the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea and Atlantic Ocean. It is also found in the Pacific Ocean. Aside from mauve or

pink, its color also varies from golden yellow to tan.

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In an unprecedented event on November 21, 2007, an enormous 10-square-mile (26 km2) swarm of billions of

these jellyfish wiped out a 100,000-fish salmon farm in Northern Ireland.

Nomurai's Jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai)

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This large Japanese species called Nomurai's Jellyfish is in the same size class as the Lion's Mane Jellyfish, the

largest jellyfish in the world. It grows up to 2 meters or 6 feet 7 inches in diameter and weighs up to 220 kilograms

or about 450 pounds. It is endemic to the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.

Compass Jellyfish (Chrysaora hysoscella)

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The fascinating Compass Jellyfish is a very common species that lives in coastal waters near the UK. It has a bell

diameter of up to 30 cm.

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It has 24 tentacles that are arranged in eight groups of three. It is usually colored yellowish white, with some

brown.

Stinging Sea Nettle (Chrysaora quinquecirrha)

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The Stinging Sea Nettle may refer to the Atlantic Sea Nettle or East Coast Sea Nettle, a common coastal species

found along the west coast of North America from California to Alaska. Its sting is not particularly harmful but can

cause moderate discomfort to any individual stung. The sting can be effectively neutralized by misting vinegar

over the affected area. Sea nettles have become popular exhibits in many public aquariums, and have been

instrumental in educating the public about the mysterious beauty of swimming jellyfishes.

Cannonball Jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris)

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The Cannonball Jellyfish's informal name is derived from its similarity to a cannonball in shape and size. Its

dome-shaped bell can reach 25 cm or 10 inches in diameter and the rim is sometimes colored with brown

pigment.

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Beneath its body is a cluster of oral arms that extend out around the mouth. These arms function as a way of

propulsion and aid in catching prey. Cannonballs are prominent from North America's eastern seaboard all the

way down to Brazil.

Pacific Sea Nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens)

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This species is generally referred to as the Pacific Sea Nettle or the West Coast Sea Nettle commonly found in

the Pacific Ocean. Diameter of the bell can be greater than 1 meter or 3 feet. The long, complicated, spiraling

oral arms and the 24 tentacles may trail up to 4.6 meters or 15 feet behind the bell.

Purple Striped Jelly (Chrysaora colorata)

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The pretty Purple-striped Jelly exists primarily off the coast of California. This lovely sea jelly can grow up to

70 cm in bell diameter typically with a radial pattern of stripes. The tentacles vary with the age of the individual,

consisting typically of eight marginal long dark arms, and four central frilly oral arms.

Hope you enjoyed this. Thank you!

See also

The Most Captivating and Stunning Sea Anemones

Chitons: Colorful and Unique Sea Creatures