Jellyfish Boy

Photo taken of a little boy in awe pointing in amazement at the jellyfish at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. Sea jellies have translucent... more

by Jennie Breeze

Title

Jellyfish Boy

Artist

Jennie Breeze

Medium

Photograph - Img_0468

Description

Photo taken of a little boy in awe pointing in amazement at the jellyfish at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. Sea jellies have translucent bodies with bell-shaped bodies, tentacles or oral arms and are members of the phylum Cnidaria. At the Long Beach Aquarium, jellyfish are referred to as sea jellies because technically they are not fish. The origin of the genus name Chrysaora lies in Greek mythology with Chrysaor, brother of Pegasus and son of Poseidon and Medusa. Translated, Chrysaor means "he who has a golden armament.". Chrysaora fuscescens (commonly known as the Pacific sea nettle or West Coast sea nettle) is a common free-floating scyphozoan that lives in the East Pacific Ocean from Canada to Mexico. Sea nettles have a distinctive golden-brown bell with a reddish tint. The bell can grow to be larger three feet in diameter in the wild. The long, spiraling, white oral arms and the 24 undulating maroon tentacles may trail behind as far as 15 feet. For humans, its sting is often irritating, but rarely dangerous. They have proven to be very popular for display at public aquariums due to their bright colors and relatively easy maintenance. When provided appropriate aquarium conditions, the medusae do well under captive conditions. Chrysaora fuscescens is capable of both sexual reproduction in the medusa stage and asexual reproduction in the polyp stage.

Uploaded

October 2nd, 2012