Cassiopea xamachana

PHYLUM COMMON NAME

CNIDARIA UPSIDE-DOWN JELLY FISH

STATUS
IN BERMUDA THE SPECIES LIVES IN AREAS THAT ARE

PROTECTED BY LEGISLATION THAT MAKE MOORING,

ANCHORING AND FISHING ILLEGAL

REPRODUCTION
Cassiopea xamachana reproduces sexually

LOCATION

CHARACTERISTICS it can be found in Bermuda and ranges throughout the Caribbean Sea, the

Gulf of Mexico, and warm waters of the western Atlantic Ocean

Cassiopea xamachana, also known as the upside-down

jellyfish, is quite large with a dominant medusa (adult FOOD HABITS

jellyfish phase) about 30cm in diameter, resembling
The prey are small organisms, including fish eggs and
more of a sea anemone than a typical jellyfish.
larvae, copepods, planktonic eggs and a variety of

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE small marine invertebrates.

Cassiopea xamachana can be used as a bioindicator ECOSYSTEM ROLES

species, to integrate relevant information about
The symbiotic relationship between the upside-down
phosphate availability in low nutrient environments.
jellyfish and photosynthetic zooxanthellae is ecologically
This may be beneficial to humans in their attempts to
valuable as it provides a pathway for converting energy
restore the health of the Florida Keys reef system
into usable forms for the marine ecosystem
 Aurelia aurita
PHYLUM COMMON NAME:
CNIDARIA MOON JELLY

LOCATION
Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) are native to coastal

waters around the world, mostly the Atlantic, Pacific

and Indian oceans. They are most common on the

coasts of North America and Europe, where the water

stays near their favorite temperatures for much of the

CHARACTERISTICS
year.

The moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) is a common

jelly that is easily recognized by its four horseshoe- FOOD HABITS

shaped gonads, which are visible through the top of

its translucent bell. The species gets its common Their primary foods include small plankton

name for the way its pale bell resembles a full moon organisms such as mollusks, crustaceans,

tunicate larvae, copepods, rotifers, nematods,

REPRODUCTION
young polychaetes, protozoans, diatoms, and

Aurelia aurita has two main stages in its life cycle eggs. They are also sometimes observed to eat

– the polyp stage (asexual reproduction) and the small hydromedusae and ctenophores.

medusa stage (sexual reproduction)

 Rhizostoma pulmo
PHYLUM COMMON NAME:
CNIDARIA BARREL JELLYFISH

STATUS:
THREATENED SPECIES

REPRODUCTION
Asexual reproduction

LOCATION
CHARACTERISTICS
It is found in the northeast Atlantic, and in

the Adriatic, Mediterranean Sea, Black

Rhizostoma pulmo has a solid appearance.
Sea and Sea of Azov. It is also known from the
It varies in colour from whitish pale or
southern Atlantic off the western South African
yellow to shades of green, blue, pink or
coast and into False Bay
brown. The umbrella margin is divided
FOOD HABITS into a number of semi-circular lobe like

extensions (marginal velar lappets).The

They are veracious

predators eating plankton, fish eggs and bell grows up to 90 cm in diameter

larvae
 Cyanea capillata
PHYLUM COMMON NAME
CNIDARIA LION'S MANE

STATUS
SCYPHOZOA

REPRODUCTION

The medusa form of the jellyfish

reproduces sexually and has separate

LOCATION sexes.

Cyanea capillata can be found in the cooler CHARACTERISTICS

regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, North Sea and
Cyanea capillata is one of the largest species of
Baltic. They are especially prevalent near the
jellyfish and is commonly referred to as Lions mane
east coast of Britain
jellyfish due to the highly distinguishable mass of

FOOD HABITS long, thin, hair-like tentacles. Cyanea capillata has a

saucer-shaped bell (the umbrella) with a uniform

Cyanea capillata feeds mainly on fish. It
thickness until thinning dramatically around the
catches its prey by sinking slowly with its
edges. Usually yellowish brown or reddish in colour. It
tentacles spread in a circle around it. The
generally grows to 30-50 cm in diameter in British
prey is captured in the "net" of tentacles
waters. However, they have been know to grow up to
and stunned by the nematocysts.
200 cm
 Periphylla periphylla
PHYLUM: COMMON NAME:
CNIDARIA HELMET JELLYFISH

LOCATION
can be found in numerous locations around

the world including the South Shetland

Islands, South Sandwich Islands, South

FOOD HABITS Georgia Island, the Southern Ocean,

Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula, and

Periphylla periphylla are predators
other marine habitats worldwide.
of copepods, krill, chaetognaths, and ostracods. They are

also the prey of organisms such as Alepocephalus

bairdii and Coryphaenoides rupestris.

REPRODUCTION
CHARACTERISTICS
Individuals of this species are either male or

Periphylla periphylla are deep-sea medusae with female, and they reproduce sexually. Very

twelve stiff tentacles, which extend from a thick, little is known about fertilization in this
bell shaped body. These animals have dark red species, including whether external or
and/or brown stomachs, and are bioluminescent.
internal fertilization occurs. The frequency
They can be up to 20 cm long, and their bodies, or
of breeding has not been determined.
central domes, have a diameter of up to 35 cm.
 Carukia barnesi
PHYLUM: COMMON NAME:
CNIDARIA IRUKANDJI JELLYFISH

STATUS:
HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN SPECIAL

CONSERVATION STATUS.

LOCATION
Carukia barnesi can be found along the coastline of

Northern Australia, from Broome along the western

REPRODUCTION: side of Australia to Rockhamptom, Queensland on the

eastern side. This includes Port Douglas in North

Queensland to the Whisunday Islands near Mackay. It

Asexual reproduction
is also found in the Cairns regions and the Great

CHARACTERISTICS Barrier Reef.

FOOD HABITS
Individuals of this species typically reach

25 mm in diameter, however it has been A young Irukandji jellyfish will hunt for small

documented at a diameter of 35 invertebrates such as zooplankton and small

mm. Carukia barnesi consists of a crustaceans such as the ones displayed in the

transparent bell that is cuboidal in shape photograph to the left. Then, when matured, the

that narrows slightly towards the apex Irukandji can consume small vertebrate fish as well.
 Tamoya ohboya
PHYLUM
CNIDARIA

COMMON NAME
BONAIRE BANDED

BOX JELLYFISH

CHARACTERISTICS LOCATION
has distinct brown to reddish-orange color discovered in the waters off the

bands on its tentacles and a body densely island of Bonaire in the Dutch
covered with warts. The warts and Caribbean
tentacles in turn are densely covered in

poison-injecting stinging capsules

 Tripedalia cystophora
PHYLUM: STATUS:
CNIDARIA NOT EVALUATED

LOCATION
ARE FOUND OFF THE NORTH COAST OF SOUTH
AMERICA IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. ONE
COLONY IN PUERTO RICO, IN THE CARIBBEAN
SEA, WAS FOUND INHABITING THE MARGINS OF
MANGROVE LAGOONS.

FOOD HABITS
Preys on dense swarms of the copepod Dioithona

PHYSICAL oculata in the mangrove prop-root habitat of Puerto

Rico, where it has been intensely studied.

CHARACTERISTICS
Small, mature jellies 0.02–0.4 in (0.5
SIGNIFICANCE TO
mm–1.0 cm) in diameter. Bell slightly
HUMANS
yellow brown, blends well with the
Not harmful to humans, but plays an
mangrove habitat.
important role in marine education as it is

exhibited in many aquaria.

 Chironex fleckeri
PHYLUM: COMMON NAME:
CNIDARIA SEA WASPS

STATUS:
NOT CONSIDERED AT RISK BY THE

IUCN, CITES, OR THE US FEDERAL LIST

CHARACTERISTICS

LOCATION grows to about the size of a human head, and has

tentacles up to three meters long. A big sting from

lives in and around the waters of Australia this guy can easily kill a human, with death

and Southeast Asia. They inhabit parts of occurring in as little as three minutes. There have

the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and the been roughly 100 deaths due to Chironex stings

Great Barrier Reef. during the past 100 years in northern Australia.

REPRODUCTION FOOD HABITS

reproduces both sexually and asexually. Adult box jellyfish tend to feed in shallow

When it is a polyp, it waters, mainly on small fish and prawns. Until

can reproduce asexually through a process they are fully grown, box jellyfish feed primarily

called budding on shrimp, most commonly Acetes australis.

 Malo kingi
COMMON NAME:
COMMON KINGSLAYER

PHYLUM:
CNIDARIA

STATUS:
BOX JELLYFISH ARE ABUNDANT

WITHIN THEIR RANGE.

REPRODUCTION
both sexual and asexual reproduction.
FUN FACT:
is a new species of irukandji

FOOD HABITS: jellyfish named after victim Robert King,

a tourist from the United

They eat small fish, crustaceans, worms, Statesswimming off Port Douglas,

jellyfish, and other small prey Queensland. who died from its sting.