DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #803: SUNNYSIDE UP OR...
The past few days I've been focusing my research on sea jellies, formerly known as jellyfish until the PC crowd decided that many people were too stupid to realize they are not "fish." They did the same with starfish, which are now known as sea stars. Now I'm all for PC when it comes to not offending humans, but really? I'm afraid they will go after sea "cucumbers," "goose"neck barnacles and "peanut" worms next.
The critter of the week this time is the fried egg jellyfish, er sea jelly. It is also known as the egg-yolk jellyfish. Oops, I did it again. We marine biologist clear up the confusion by sticking to a single scientific name, Phacellophora camtschatica. This helps avoid mistaking it with another jelly in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean known by the same common name, but with a different scientific name Cotylorhiza tuberculata. Of course even scientific names change as molecular biologists examine DNA sequences.
Our fried-egg is a fairly large one reaching up to two feet in diameter with tentacles stretching 20 feet behind it. The 16 clusters of tentacles coming off the margin of the bell may number in the hundreds. The oral arms or tentacles originating from the bottom of the bell are often fairly short. The size of these jellies may suggest they evolved from the egg of a large bird like a dodo, but that ain't how evolution works. It gets its name from the yellow or yellow-orange "yolk" in the upper regions of the bell, which are the gonads. The margin of the bell is translucent. I have also seen fried-egg jellies that lack the "yolk" so I assume they are egg white jellies. Hmmm, so why doesn't the PC crowd go after the "fried egg" in the common name? After all, someone might think they can have one for breakfast!
"Our" fried egg jelly ranges from Alaska to southern California but can be found throughout the world in temperate seas. They generally prefer coastal areas with shallower water depths rather than the open ocean.
Menu items include other jellies, comb jellies and ctenophores. It may also add other planktonic prey such as crustaceans, arrow worms and fish larvae.The stinging cells in this species are fairly weak, probably because the critters it preys on are planktonic drifters and not strong swimmers. This species' tentacles are also sticky which aids in capturing food. In the Mutual Eating Society, they in turn become food for sea turtles, dozens of species of fish including the Mola mola (ocean sunfish) and even a few marine birds.
Reproduction is typical of most jellies in the phylum Cnidaria. They alternate a planktonic sexual phase known as a medusa, which reproduces sexually, with an attached polyp that reproduces asexually by budding. Most people never see the much smaller polyp stage, only the drifting medusa. Those that do see the polyp stage are usually scientists raising the species in aquaria and labs.
© 2019 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 800 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Fried egg sea jelly showing egg "yolk" and clusters of tentacles
Image caption: "albino" fried egg (or as I call it the egg white jelly) with no yellow-orange gonad mass.
The past few days I've been focusing my research on sea jellies, formerly known as jellyfish until the PC crowd decided that many people were too stupid to realize they are not "fish." They did the same with starfish, which are now known as sea stars. Now I'm all for PC when it comes to not offending humans, but really? I'm afraid they will go after sea "cucumbers," "goose"neck barnacles and "peanut" worms next.
The critter of the week this time is the fried egg jellyfish, er sea jelly. It is also known as the egg-yolk jellyfish. Oops, I did it again. We marine biologist clear up the confusion by sticking to a single scientific name, Phacellophora camtschatica. This helps avoid mistaking it with another jelly in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean known by the same common name, but with a different scientific name Cotylorhiza tuberculata. Of course even scientific names change as molecular biologists examine DNA sequences.
Our fried-egg is a fairly large one reaching up to two feet in diameter with tentacles stretching 20 feet behind it. The 16 clusters of tentacles coming off the margin of the bell may number in the hundreds. The oral arms or tentacles originating from the bottom of the bell are often fairly short. The size of these jellies may suggest they evolved from the egg of a large bird like a dodo, but that ain't how evolution works. It gets its name from the yellow or yellow-orange "yolk" in the upper regions of the bell, which are the gonads. The margin of the bell is translucent. I have also seen fried-egg jellies that lack the "yolk" so I assume they are egg white jellies. Hmmm, so why doesn't the PC crowd go after the "fried egg" in the common name? After all, someone might think they can have one for breakfast!
"Our" fried egg jelly ranges from Alaska to southern California but can be found throughout the world in temperate seas. They generally prefer coastal areas with shallower water depths rather than the open ocean.
Menu items include other jellies, comb jellies and ctenophores. It may also add other planktonic prey such as crustaceans, arrow worms and fish larvae.The stinging cells in this species are fairly weak, probably because the critters it preys on are planktonic drifters and not strong swimmers. This species' tentacles are also sticky which aids in capturing food. In the Mutual Eating Society, they in turn become food for sea turtles, dozens of species of fish including the Mola mola (ocean sunfish) and even a few marine birds.
Reproduction is typical of most jellies in the phylum Cnidaria. They alternate a planktonic sexual phase known as a medusa, which reproduces sexually, with an attached polyp that reproduces asexually by budding. Most people never see the much smaller polyp stage, only the drifting medusa. Those that do see the polyp stage are usually scientists raising the species in aquaria and labs.
© 2019 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 800 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Fried egg sea jelly showing egg "yolk" and clusters of tentacles
Image caption: "albino" fried egg (or as I call it the egg white jelly) with no yellow-orange gonad mass.
