Big Red Jellyfish

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 stinging tentacles to capture food and has been observed off the west coast of North America, Baja California, Hawaii, and Japan. It’s scientific name, Tiburonia granrojo, comes MBARI's ROV Tiburon. More about deep ocean exploration can be found in our deep sea overview.