Flower hat jelly
Olindias formosus
- Not on exhibit
- Animal type
- Invertebrates
- Ecosystem
- Coastal waters
- Relatives
- Other hydromedusae
- Diet
- Small fishes
- Range
- Off southern Japan, Brazil, and Argentina
- Size
- Up to 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter
Meet the flower hat jelly
This striking and rare jelly has brilliant, multicolored tentacles trailing from a translucent, pinstriped bell. They also have tentacles around the rim of the bell that they can quickly coil and uncoil. This mysterious jelly is semi-benthic, meaning it sometimes spending 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
- 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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