Sea Nettle: Chrysaora melanaster Brandt, 1838
The largest jellyfish of the Arctic
Size
- bell upto 60cm
- tentacles and lips may stretch more than 3 m
Color & Characteristics
- Color: white, brown to orange stripes
- 24-32 long orange-red tentacles
- 4 long curtain-like lips
- 8 marginal rhophilia (sense organ), spaced between 32 lappets
- 16 dark brown/black radiating streaks on subumbrella between 8 stomach pouches
- tentacles can produce a nasty sting to humans
Habitat
- Epiplegic (surface waters) to ~100 m depth
- Nertic (shelves) and over basins
- Commonly observed by divers or ROVs, its abundance to and size make it rare to capture in plankton nets
- Benthic form has not been observed in the Arctic, suggesting the species may be seasonally imported from the subarctic
Feeding
- Diet includes copepods, larvaceans, other jellies, larger zooplankton and small fish
Life cycle
- An obligate benthic phase, that strobulates (buds) to release ephra larvae
- larvae mature into adult body-form that releases eggs and sperm
- Fertilized eggs settle to seafloor to prooduce a small non-colonial benthic form
- Life span in Arctic unknown, possibly only one season
Page Author: Kevin Raskoff & Russ Hopcroft
Created: Aug 20, 2010
