Planet Earth - Blog Posts

Mid-water Arctic Hydrozoan

Botrynema brucei

The Mid-water Arctic Hydrozoan is a mini-jelly that is transparent with hints of blue. It thrives in freezing cold temperatures and drifts aimlessly in the Artic Ocean. Moreover, it is only 3 cm in size and floats between  900m to 2,600m.

Photo credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botrynema_brucei

http://www.arcodiv.org/watercolumn/cnidarian/Botrynema_brucei.html

Red Paper Lantern Medusa

Pandea rubra

The Red Paper Lantern resembles a floating, Japanese paper lantern in the deep sea. It has the ability to crumple and wrinkle its bright, red bell, and it is located at depths between 550m to 1200m. It has also been nicknamed the “origami jelly.”

Photo credit:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pandea_rubra

http://www.thegorgeousdaily.com/pandea-rubra/

Psychedelic Medusa 

Crossota millsae

The Psychedelic Medusa is a deep-sea hydrozoan that is abundant in the North Pacific. The mini-jelly is found at depths between 1000m to 3800m, and are often observed drifting near the ocean floor. It also has an eccentric reproduction behavior uncommon in cnidarians. The females display viviparity, and carry the babies in her bell until they are ready to hatch.   

Photo credit: http://www.arcodiv.org/watercolumn/cnidarian/Crossota_millsae.html

https://twitter.com/spothvegr/status/1030177493075079169

Atolla Jelly

Atolla wyvillei

The Atolla Jelly is a fiery, red jellyfish that has an extraordinary display of bioluminescence. When the jelly is attacked, it uses bioluminescence to produce thousands of vibrant, blue flashes; the blue flashes act as an alarm, which draws in bigger predators and warns prey. The jelly can be found at depths between 600 m to 1500m, and it also has a long  hypertrophied tentacle that aids in reproduction. 

Photo credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atolla_jellyfish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atolla_jellyfish

Black Medusa

Vampyrocrossota childressi

The Black Medusa is an inky, black hydrozoan that absorbs all light that hits its tiny body. It has a translucent gelatin and a black umbrella; it is also only 1.5 cm in size. Moreover, it is found at depths between 600m to 1500m, and it spends its entire life floating in the deep ocean. 

Photo credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/488148047080475827/

Fangtooth

Anoplogaster cornuta

The Fangtooth is a ferocious predator that is found at depths between 600 m to 5000 m. It has large, needle like teeth that are used to catch prey. It also has extremely sensitive sensory canals underneath of its scales used to detect movement in the water. Furthermore, their preferred prey are crustaceans and fish. 

Photo credit: https://pixels.com/featured/fangtooth-fish-dant-fenolio.html

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/845902742487789950/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23231020-400-up-close-with-the-giant-teeth-of-the-deepsea-fangtooth/

Pigbutt worm

Chaetopterus pugaporcinus

The Pigbutt worm or the flying buttocks of the sea is spotted floating between 965 m to 1300 m in the deep ocean. It is actually a polychaete (polly-keet) worm species that burrows in the ground as an adult, and floats around the ocean as a baby. The worm feeds itself : by creating a balloon of mucus; collecting particles on the mucus; and then consuming the particles. It is the rarest and thickest worm in the deep ocean, for only ten have been spotted.  

Photocredit: https://roaring.earth/pigbutt-worm/