Fried egg jellyfish
Fried egg jellyfish | ||||||||||||
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Fried egg jellyfish ( Cotylorhiza tuberculata ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Cotylorhiza tuberculata | ||||||||||||
( Macrì , 1778) |
The fried egg jellyfish ( Cotylorhiza tuberculata ) is one of the Rhizostomae (Rhizostomeae). It lives in the Mediterranean , mainly in the high seas ( pelagic ), mostly just below the water surface. It can actively move and is therefore relatively independent of ocean currents.
features
The fried egg jellyfish has a whitish umbrella , with a diameter of up to 35 centimeters, and a yellow elevation in the middle , reminiscent of the yolk of a fried egg . It has eight central arms and many small arms that end in purple button-like swellings.
The jellyfish is accompanied by many small fish that find shelter in the nettle threads. It has only a weak nettle poison and is harmless to humans.
Reproduction
Female fried egg jellyfish release many planula larvae shortly before they die . These sink to the ground and become polyps . The polyps , which are 5 to 10 millimeters in size, have 16 tentacles, and when they bud in the spring, constrict ephyral larvae , which in the course of their growth turn into medusa .
literature
- Matthias Bergbauer, Bernd Humberg: What lives in the Mediterranean? Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07733-0