What does the Stygiomedusa gigantea look like? A full breakdown of its physical features
The Stygiomedusa gigantea looks a bit like the Dementors in the sci-fi film "Harry Potter", is dark red in color, and unlike other jellyfish species it has no thick, stinging tentacles, but instead has 5 sheet-like tentacles that can extend 6 m. It was first discovered in the Antarctic Ocean in 1901, and over more than a hundred years it has appeared many times in the Antarctic Ocean. Let's take a look below at what the Stygiomedusa gigantea looks like!
What does the Stygiomedusa gigantea look like?
The Stygiomedusa gigantea is a large deep-sea jellyfish. The largest individual known so far has a bell diameter of about 1.4 m and a body length (including tentacles) of 11 m. There are no tentacles on the margin of the bell, but around the mouth there are four very well-developed oral arms. The margin of the bell has many folds, and the longitudinal muscles under the bell are well developed. It mainly lives in the deep sea at about 500 to 2000 m, and interestingly, a kind of deep-sea blenny often lives together with this jellyfish, which is also the only blenny fish known to humans to live symbiotically with a jellyfish.
Where is the Stygiomedusa gigantea distributed?
Research on the living habits of the Stygiomedusa gigantea is very lacking. It was first discovered in the Antarctic Ocean in 1901, and over more than a hundred years this jellyfish has appeared many times in the Antarctic Ocean, but its range of activity is not limited to the Antarctic. This jellyfish has also been found as far away as the waters off Japan, from which it can be inferred that this jellyfish should be widely distributed. However, since its discovery more than a hundred years ago, humans have found this jellyfish only 114 times in the ocean, with the most recent occasion in 2009.
Extension: What types of jellyfish are there?
1. Box jellyfish: The entire bell of the box jellyfish is cube-shaped. They are distributed in tropical and subtropical shallow seas, with a few living a floating life in the open ocean. The stinging cells on their tentacles are highly toxic. Common representative species include the Chirolopha jellyfish and the box jellyfish.
2. Crown jellyfish: The medusa of the crown jellyfish is dome-shaped, conical, or flattened, but there is a constricting groove in the middle of the outer bell that divides the bell into upper and lower parts, and the corresponding gastric pouches are also divided into upper and lower parts. They are mainly deep-sea species, such as the Atolla jellyfish.
3. Stauromedusae: Stauromedusae are scyphozoans that live a sessile life. Their bodies are formed by the union of the polyp form and the medusa form. They are often distributed in colder seawater, attached to seaweed, such as the trumpet jellyfish and the Haliclystus jellyfish.
4. Semaeostomeae: The bell of Semaeostomeae is bowl-shaped or butterfly-shaped, and the margin of the bell has 8 to many notches, with tentacle pouches in the notches. The vast majority live in coastal areas. Common species include the moon jellyfish, the Pelagia jellyfish, and the Cyanea jellyfish.
5. Rhizostomeae: Rhizostomeae are close to Semaeostomeae. The mouth is not located in the middle of the body, but on movable tentacles, and there is a small opening that can take in small food molecules in the water. Representative species include the jellyfish (Rhopilema esculentum) and the Cephea jellyfish.