aguabend:This is my all time favorite jellyfish. This is a Bloodybelly Comb Jellyfish (Lampocteis)
aguabend: This is my all time favorite jellyfish. This is a Bloodybelly Comb Jellyfish (Lampocteis). {X} Brilliant and seemingly glowing, the bloodybelly comb jelly comes in different shades of red but always has a blood-red stomach. The sparkling display on the outside comes from light diffracting from tiny transparent, hair-like cilia. These beat continuously, propelling the jelly through the water. Ironically, at the depths where the bloodybelly lives, it’s nearly invisible to predators. In the darkness of the deep sea, animals that are red appear black and blend into the dark background. Scientists believe the bloodybelly’s red belly helps mask bioluminescent light from the prey it swallows. A predator with a glowing gut could easily become prey. The bloodbelly’s depth range is from 984 to 3,320 feet. It grows to a length of six inches. The genus name Lampoctena derives from the Greek roots for “brilliant comb,” referring to the bright iridescence diffracted from the animal’s comb rows. -- source link
#deep sea#marine biology