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Flower hat jelly
NOT ON EXHIBIT
At the Aquarium
Natural History
This striking and rare jelly has brilliant, multicolored tentacles trailing from a translucent, pinstriped bell. It also has tentacles around the rim of its bell that it can quickly coil and uncoil. This mysterious jelly is semi-benthic , sometimes spending its time on the seafloor.
Conservation
Blooms of the flower hat jellies make swimming in waters off Argentina hazardous. The sting of this jelly is painful, leaving a bright rash. In Brazil, blooms of the flower hat jellies interfere with shrimp fishing; the jellies clog their nets and drive shrimp away, probably to deeper water.
Cool Facts
A jelly can grow or shrink according to the available food supply. If the cupboard is bare, jellies can “de-grow,” shrinking in size so they need less food. They can re-grow again when food is more plentiful.
Jellies have no head, heart, brain, bones, cartilage or real eyes, yet they’re among the major predators in the ocean. Their stinging cells are among the most complicated cells found anywhere in the animal kingdom.
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Animal Facts
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ON EXHIBIT
- Scientific Name:
Olindias sp
- Habitat:
Coastal Waters
- Animal Type:
Invertebrates
- Diet:
small fishes
- Size:
to about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter
- Range:
off southern Japan, Brazil and Argentina
- Relatives:
other hydromedusae
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