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How does it look like?
It is a transparent hydromedusa with a circular umbrella 8 to 17 centimeters wide. It is characterized by having a large number of radial channels in the endoderm, arranged centrifugally from the stomach to the end of the umbrella. There color is brown or dark blue. At the end of the umbrella grow many thin and long tentacles. The area where the mouth is located has a triangular shape, which allows it to be identified.
Where does it live?
It is a pelagic and cosmopolitan jellyfish. It lives in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.
How does it feed?
It catches food with its tentacles.
How does it reproduce?
Like many jellyfish, Aequorea forskalea goes through a polyp phase in which it attaches itself to the seabed. Later it will transform into a free jellyfish that we will find floating in the sea.
Is a confusion possible?
It can be confused with Aequorea vitrina, although this species distribution is more to the north of Europe. In addition, A.vitrina's radial canals have a color ranging from white to pale blue.
Curiosities
· They don't sting humans.
· Like Pelagia noctiluca it is often seen from ferries as it is a pelagic species (it lives in the high seas).
· Normally people notice them when currents strand them on the beach or approach them to the coast. Otherwise their live is quiet anonymous.
Taxonomy
Phylum: Cnidaria, Subphylum: Medusozous, Superclass: Hydrozoa, Class: Hydroidomedusae, Subclass: Leptomedusae, Ordren: Conica, Family: Aequoreidae, Genus: Aequorea |
