About the Lobed Comb Jelly
Jellies are simple creatures with few specialized organs. Most jellies can detect chemical traces in the water that allow them to locate food, and many are equipped with a gravity-sensitive structure, called a statocyst, that gives them a sense of up and down in the water. Comb Jellies have oval-shaped bodies with eight rows of tiny comblike plates that they beat to move themselves in the water. When they swim the comb rows diffract light to produce a rainbow effect. They feed on copepods, euphausias, and other zooplankton. Many Comb Jellies reach up to about 15 centimeters in length.
Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Subkingdom: Radiata
Phylum: Ctenophora
Class: Tentaculata
Order: Lobata
Family: Bolinopsidae
Genus: Bolinopsis
Species: infundibulum
Subkingdom: Radiata
Phylum: Ctenophora
Class: Tentaculata
Order: Lobata
Family: Bolinopsidae
Genus: Bolinopsis
Species: infundibulum
Location & Habitat
Lobed Comb Jellies are found in most oceans, especially in surface waters near the shore. They are more common in northern waters and range from southern California to the Arctic.
Human Impact
The jellies are very sensitive to water quality at certain points in their life cycle, so changes in the health of jelly populations is usually a tell tale sign of larger environmental problems in the ocean. These jellies do well in captivity and are sometimes displayed in aquariums.
Interesting Facts
- Most jellies can detect chemical traces in the water and allows them to find food
- Some jellies have a statocyst, which is a gravity sensitive structure that gives them a sense of up and down in the water
- They can expand their stomachs to hold prey nearly half their size
Sources
- http://www.sciencenews.org/article/comb-jelly-immune-system-can-spot-old-enemies
- http://www.marineboutique.com.au/content/view/371/189/
- http://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/lobed-comb-jelly-bull-bolinopsis-infundibulum.html
- http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/invertebrates/comb-jelly
- http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/345418/lobed-comb-jelly
- http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=53904