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Aug 1 2012 - 1:49pm
Light refracts off the comb-rows of the Mertensia ovum, a ctenophore, producing stripes of rainbow colors. The jelly eats copepods and small crustaceans that become stuck to its sticky tentacles.
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Aug 18 2010 - 4:44pm
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...
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Feb 28 2013 - 3:37pm
Jellyfish and comb jellies are gelatinous animals that drift through the ocean's water column around the world. They are both beautiful—the jellyfish with their pulsating bells and long, trailing tentacles, and the comb jellies with their paddling combs generating rainbow-like colors. Yet though...
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Oct 12 2011 - 11:24am
What does a bioluminescent creature that lives more than 2 miles below the surface of the ocean and a glow stick have in common? More than you think. Bioluminescence is the process by which living organisms produce their own light. Using a photographic technique called light painting, you can do...
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Mar 12 2013 - 7:35am
Stinging cells (nematocysts) line the tentacles of this moon jelly (Aurelia aurita). Upon contact with prey or a predator, a venom-laden harpoon shoots out to stun or kill. Read more about jellyfish anatomy in our jellyfish and comb jellies overview page.
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Mar 22 2013 - 9:28am
This rare staurozoan, or stalked jellyfish (Haliclystus californiensis) is about 2 centimeters in length and was collected off the coast of California. Unlike the traditional bell-shaped floating jellyfish, staurozoans live attached to rocks or other hard surfaces and mostly live in cold water...
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Nov 29 2010 - 6:48pm
All over the world, people have been witnessing gigantic blooms of tens of thousands of jellyfish where once there were only a few. Fishers find them clogging their nets and costing them dearly. In Japan, giant jellyfish capable of reaching six feet across even capsized a boat that tried to bring...
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Sep 17 2012 - 9:18am
Alien-looking creatures like this deep-red jellyfish (Crossota norvegica) swim in the Arctic Sea. Learn more about Arctic sea life in our Under the Arctic Ice story, or at the home page for the Arctic Ocean Diversity project. And learn more about jellyfish!
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Oct 16 2012 - 9:53am
Many expeditions in the Arctic reveal new species, such as this jellyfish Bathykorus bouilloni, which, strangely, has only four tentacles! Dr. Kevin Raskoff from California State University, Monterey Bay first captured one in the deep Arctic in 2002 and thought it was rare.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Like many deep sea creatures, this tiny comb jelly (Bathocyroe fosteri) has a transparent body, enabling it to blend into the surrounding waters. This ctenophore is very common around the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. More about the deep ocean can be found in the Deep Ocean Exploration section.
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May 2 2013 - 9:29am
This venomous box jelly (Chiropsalmus quadrumanus) was collected off the coast of South Carolina. The specimen now resides in the Smithsonian’s marine collection. It's venomous sting can be lethal, especially to small children.
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Jan 12 2011 - 7:13pm
A “pink meanie” jellyfish (Drymonema larsoni)—a species found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean—feeds on a moon jelly (Aurelia). Dr. Keith Bayha from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Dr.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A fringe of short tentacles surrounds the flattened bell of this tiny, transparent jellyfish (Halicreas minimum), which can be found at depths up to 984 feet (300 meters). But it would be hard to spot: the bell grows up to just 4 centimeters (2 inches) across! See more deep ocean diversity and...
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Jan 7 2011 - 3:53pm
Using an ROV (Remotely-Operated Vehicle) equipped with a high-definition video camera, scientists can observe the life that flourishes beneath the Arctic ice. On this expedition, they discovered creatures, like this Narcomedusa jelly, that were previously unknown.
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Apr 18 2013 - 10:35am
Like this ctenophore (Aulococtena acuminata), many animals that live in the midwater zone are red—making them almost invisible in the dim blue light that filters down from the sea surface. This small comb jelly snares prey with its two short tentacles.
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Jun 18 2012 - 9:37am
Chrysaora melanaster, one of the largest jellyfish commonly found in the Arctic, swims underneath the Arctic ice. Its tentacles can stretch to more than 3 meters long and pack a mean sting for humans.
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Jun 9 2010 - 9:23am
Since late April, the world has watched a devastating oil spill from a BP drilling rig spread throughout the Gulf of Mexico and become one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the United States.
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Aug 18 2011 - 4:24pm
Bioluminescence is one of the more captivating adaptations that have evolved in marine animals. It's the ability of organisms to create and emit light. Dive underwater and you may witness lightshows of red, green, and blue. Chemical reactions release energy that produces the light. Many species use...
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Jan 6 2011 - 12:33pm
Found in the icy waters of the Arctic, Comb Jellies, or ctenophores like this one, of the Aulacoctena genus, are poorly known animals. With extremely fragile bodies, they are difficult to capture intact.
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Mar 4 2013 - 10:11am
This colony of Rosacea may look like a single jellyfish, but it is actually a large group of smaller siphonophores clustered and living together. In fact, the zooids (individual siphonophores living in the colony) cannot survive on their own. This specimen was photographed by the Census of...
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May 25 2010 - 4:48pm
Sea jellies such as this one in the genus Benthocodon are commonly seen on or near the seafloor in the Monterey Canyon off central California. Some jellies in this genus feed on animals that live in seafloor sediment. Learn more about life in the deep sea in the Deep Ocean Exploration section.
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Apr 12 2013 - 11:29am
How long have jellyfish lived in the ocean? This jellyfish fossil is from the Cambrian period, more than 500 million years ago. It was found buried in Utah—an area that used to be underwater, covered by the ocean. Fossil jellyfish are rare because they have no bones or other hard parts to turn into...
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Mar 22 2011 - 10:24am
A still from Journey of the Universe, part of the 19th Annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This jelly’s red color provides camouflage in the deep ocean. Red light rarely reaches those depths, and most deep-sea animals have lost the ability to see red. The long, complex tentacles of this unidentified comb jelly (Order Cydippia) have sticky cells that can snag prey, and then retract.
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