Page 265 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

CNIDARIANS 263

gonads

stinging
tentacle

frilly
mouth
lobe

stinger glows by producing luminous
CLASS SCYPHOZOA
mucus from surface cells when it is
Mauve Stinger knocked or disturbed by waves.
Hanging down from the underside
of the mushroom-shaped bell are four
Pelagia noctiluca
DIAMETER long, frilly mouth lobes, which are
Up to 5 in (13 cm) sometimes called oral arms. These also
DEPTH have stinging cells that paralyze and
Near surface entangle small planktonic animals.
HABITAT Sticky mucus holds the prey, which
Open water is then passed up grooves in the arms
DISTRIBUTION Northeastern Atlantic, Mediterranean, and into the mouth.
Indian Ocean, and western and central Pacific Unlike most jellyfish, the life cycle
of the mauve stinger does not involve
This jellyfish produces bioluminescent a fixed stage. Eggs and sperm are shed
light shows, which are often admired into the water, where the eggs are
from passing boats, but it also has a fertilized and develop into tiny, oval
reputation as a ferocious stinger. As planula larvae covered in hairlike cilia. OCEAN LIFE
well as having eight stinging tentacles, The planula larva changes directly into
it is covered in tiny red spots that are a tiny, lobed, saucer-shaped medusa
bundles of stinging cells. The sting is called an ephyra, which gradually
painful but not dangerous. The mauve develops into an adult.