Trying to ID this Jelly

[dwashbur]

Found this little guy swooshing along in the water column at about 12 feet at Point Lobos yesterday. He was maybe an inch long not counting the tentacles. I've been through Wrobel/Mills and a couple of other books and can't seem to find him. Anybody got an idea? Pelagics aren't really my strong suit to begin with, and this one has me stumped.

In the interest of full disclosure, the third picture has been color-adjusted a bit. Other than that, the pix haven't been altered except to remove a little backscatter in the empty space around him. There was a pretty good layer of yuck in the cove between about 10 and 15 fsw...

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

I don't know what kind of jelly it is, but it sure is a cute one. I like jellies. But really, I love the pics.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

Okay, it looks like a cunina perigrina. I am trying to get a pic in here.... .

What do you think?

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

The internal structure is way different.

 

[dhammer]

Maybe it's something that hitched a ride in a cruise ship bilge, or got caught in an upwelling from the deep canyon. OR.....

[Dum Dum DUMMMMMMMMMM]

Could it have fallen from SPACE???

:11:

 

[dwashbur]

The internal structure is way different.

That was what I thought, but as I said, I'm out of my element with these guys. I actually found a second one, not more than a quarter of an inch long, but couldn't get a picture of him. So, any other ideas?

 

[dannobee]

Juvi Egg Yolk Jelly?

 

[dwashbur]

Maybe I'll just call it "Bob." That's sorta what it was doing...

 

[Jim Ernst]

Juvi Egg Yolk Jelly?

I don't know what it is either Dan...

But I saw one a few weeks ago in Monterey as well.

How
have you been.

 

[yangnome]

I emailed the picture to one of our jelly gurus and got this response back:

This one belongs the genus Polyorchus which translates from Latin to “many testicles.” The long crème colored things in the center are the gonads. I think it could be a small Polyorchus haplus, although I’d need to have the specimen in hand to be sure.