Jellyfish & Ctenaria

Pacific sea nettle

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Identity card

Pacific sea nettle

Scientific name:: Chrysaora fuscescens

Family:: Pelagiidae

Class:: Scyphozoa

Phylum:: Cnidaria

Year of description:: Brandt, 1835

IUCN Status:: Not Evaluated

Distribution:: It lives in the fresh waters of the North Pacific. It can be found from Siberia and Alaska to Mexico.

Habitat:: The Pacific sea nettle is a pelagic species, which means that it lives in the open water.

Size:: The bell of this jellyfish can reach a size of over 30 cm.

Diet:: Zooplankton and pieces of fish and shrimp.

There are 1,500 stinging cells or cnidocytes on 1 mm of the tentacle of this jellyfish.

The stinging cells are used to paralyse prey. The name of the jellyfish belonging to the Chrysaora genus comes from Chrysaor, the son of Medusa in Greek mythology.

did you know?

Where is the animal to be found?

The Pacific Sea nettle is a pelagic species, which means that it lives in the open water.

How can it be recognised?

This large jellyfish displays golden tones. Jellyfish are cnidarians like anemones and coral.

What is distinctive about it?

It is a carnivore and particularly voracious. Unlike other jellyfish which are microphagous, the brown jellyfish feeds on both zooplankton and pieces of fish and shrimp.

Chrysaora are a source of type II collagen, which is used in particular to relieve arthritis or joint pains.

Jellyfish reproduce sexually: the male and female gametes are produced by separate individuals. After fertilization has occurred between two individuals, small larvae known as planulae are born and deposited on the sea bed, where they become polyps. These polyps give birth to jellyfish through strobilation. This method of reproduction is characterised by vertical separation of parts which form small saucers and turn into jellyfish.