Jellyfish Related Content

May 25 2010 - 4:48pm
Sea jellies such as this one in the genus Benthocodon are commonly seen on or near the seafloor in the Monterey Canyon off central California. Some jellies in this genus feed on animals that live in seafloor sediment. Learn more about life in the deep sea in the Deep Ocean Exploration section.
Jun 9 2010 - 9:23am
Since late April, the world has watched a devastating oil spill from a BP drilling rig spread throughout the Gulf of Mexico and become one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the United States.
Jun 18 2012 - 9:37am
Chrysaora melanaster, one of the largest jellyfish commonly found in the Arctic, swims underneath the Arctic ice. Its tentacles can stretch to more than 3 meters long and pack a mean sting for humans. 
Oct 2 2012 - 10:09am
These large jellyfish (Chrysaora fuscescens) are most commonly found along the coasts of California and Oregon. (They're also popular in the displays of public aquaria.) Their bells can grow to a diameter of around 1 foot (30 cm), with red stinging tentacles and oral arms extending far below....
Aug 26 2010 - 10:28pm
Depending on whom you talk to, jellyfish are either fascinating, a nuisance, a toxic menace, or some combination of the above.
Aug 1 2012 - 1:49pm
Light refracts off the comb-rows of the Mertensia ovum, a ctenophore, producing stripes of rainbow colors. The jelly eats copepods and small crustaceans that become stuck to its sticky tentacles.
Jan 6 2011 - 12:38pm
Many jellyfish in the class Hydrozoa, such as this hydromedusa Aglantha digitale, are transparent and easily overlooked. Learn more about hydrozoan jellies and other jellyfish, and see more pictures of Arctic animals in the “Under Arctic Ice” photo essay.
Aug 3 2010 - 12:11pm
The ROV Hyper Dolphin caught this deep-sea jelly (Atolla wyvillei) on film east of Izu-Oshina Island, Japan. When attacked, it uses bioluminescence to "scream" for help—an amazing light show known as a burglar alarm display. Visit the Encyclopedia of Life to learn more about these wild jellies.
Aug 18 2010 - 4:44pm
Marine biologists from MBARI nicknamed this startlingly large jellyfish—which grows over one meter (three feet) in diameter—"big red." It would be hard to miss, except that it lives at depths of 650 to 1,500 meters (2,000 to 4,800 feet). Big red uses four to seven fleshy "feeding arms" instead of...
Sep 17 2012 - 9:18am
Alien-looking creatures like this deep-red jellyfish (Crossota norvegica) swim in the Arctic Sea. Learn more about Arctic sea life in our Under the Arctic Ice story, or at the home page for the Arctic Ocean Diversity project. And learn more about jellyfish!
Oct 12 2011 - 11:24am
What does a bioluminescent creature that lives more than 2 miles below the surface of the ocean and a glow stick have in common? More than you think. Bioluminescence is the process by which living organisms produce their own light. Using a photographic technique called light painting, you can do...
ROV Video of Stunning Creatures
Jan 7 2011 - 3:53pm
Using an ROV (Remotely-Operated Vehicle) equipped with a high-definition video camera, scientists can observe the life that flourishes beneath the Arctic ice. On this expedition, they discovered creatures, like this Narcomedusa jelly, that were previously unknown.
Oct 14 2010 - 5:25pm
Corals are just one of the many marine life forms that can be modeled in crochet. Jellyfish, like the one pictured here, starfish, sea snails, and kelp are some of the other organisms that contributors to the Institute For Figuring’s Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef have created over time.
A bonaire banded box jellyfish, Tamoya ohboya
Apr 2 2010 - 12:16pm
In this episode of the Podcast of Life, learn how three fiery, painful stings during an early morning swim in Hawaii changed the life of researcher Angel Yanagihara. Once the young biochemist had recovered from her box jelly encounter, Carybdea alata had her full attention. Now she works to unlock...
Nov 29 2010 - 6:48pm
All over the world, people have been witnessing gigantic blooms of tens of thousands of jellyfish where once there were only a few. Fishers find them clogging their nets and costing them dearly. In Japan, giant jellyfish capable of reaching six feet across even capsized a boat that tried to bring...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A fringe of short tentacles surrounds the flattened bell of this tiny, transparent jellyfish (Halicreas minimum), which can be found at depths up to 984 feet (300 meters). But it would be hard to spot: the bell grows up to just 4 centimeters (2 inches) across! See more deep ocean diversity and...
Apr 17 2010 - 12:00pm
A cameraman navigates a smack of sea nettles (Chrysaora fuscescens) in Monterey Bay. A group of jellies is known as a "smack."
red paper lantern jellyfish
Apr 26 2011 - 1:47pm
The Encyclopedia of Life and Atlantic Public Media bring us a new installment of the podcast, One Species at a Time. Vacuumed up from its habitat a mile down in the ocean, the red paper lantern jelly may not look like much. Mostly water, it’s so fragile that once brought to the surface it...
Mar 12 2013 - 7:35am
Stinging cells (nematocysts) line the tentacles of this moon jelly (Aurelia aurita). Upon contact with prey or a predator, a venom-laden harpoon shoots out to stun or kill. Read more about jellyfish anatomy in our jellyfish and comb jellies overview page.
Apr 18 2013 - 10:35am
Like this ctenophore (Aulococtena acuminata), many animals that live in the midwater zone are red—making them almost invisible in the dim blue light that filters down from the sea surface. This small comb jelly snares prey with its two short tentacles.
Jan 12 2011 - 7:13pm
A “pink meanie” jellyfish (Drymonema larsoni)—a species found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean—feeds on a moon jelly (Aurelia). Dr. Keith Bayha from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Dr.
Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am
More desirable fish species like tuna, bass, and swordfish are being fished out, leaving us with species lower on the food chain—like jellyfish. Could this burger show up on lunch menus one day soon?
Feb 28 2013 - 3:37pm
Jellyfish and comb jellies are gelatinous animals that drift through the ocean's water column around the world. They are both beautiful—the jellyfish with their pulsating bells and long, trailing tentacles, and the comb jellies with their paddling combs generating rainbow-like colors. Yet though...
Mar 4 2013 - 10:11am
This colony of Rosacea may look like a single jellyfish, but it is actually a large group of smaller siphonophores clustered and living together. In fact, the zooids (individual siphonophores living in the colony) cannot survive on their own. This specimen was photographed by the Census of...