Bolinopsis infundibulum (Müller, 1776)
A common upper water colum lobed ctenophore of the Arctic and its marginal seas
Size
- Juveniles 2-3 mm
- Adults up to 15 cm
Color & Characteristics
- Pair of pronounced pad-shapped lobes surround mouth
- Transparrent, often with a dark patch on near the end of each lobe
- May have pronounced peak at the top of the animal
- Animal disintegrates in preservative
Habitat
- Panarctic, mostly in surface waters but down to 500 m
Feeding
- Eats copepods and small crustaceans trapped inside lobes
Life cycle
- Eggs are scattered into the water
- Juveniles hatch as a spherial body form with a pair of feeding tentcales.
- Lobes develop after an increase in size and tentacles are lost
- Generation times are unknown, probably 1 year
Page Author: Russ Hopcroft
Created: Oct 30, 2008