| Few creatures of the sea can rival the magnificent splendor of the disparate group of creatures we call gelatinous zooplankton. The most familiar are the relatives of corals and anemones known as jellyfish. The gelatinous lifestyle has been taken up by representatives of a number of other phyla. These include the ctenophores (also known as comb jellies), gelatinous molluscs (heteropods and pteropods) and pelagic tunicates (salps, doliolids and pyrosomes). Although unrelated, representatives of these groups share the property that when removed from the supportive aqueous environment, they collapse into quivering blobs (it's hard to hold yourself together when you lack any hard, rigid skeletal parts!). |
Siphonophore - Praya GZ-03
Umbrella Jelly - Eutonina Hydromedusa GZ-02
Bell Jelly - Polyorchis Hydromedusa GZ-04
Crystal Jelly - Aequorea Hydromedusa GZ-01
Cross Jelly - Mitrocoma Hydromedusa GZ-05
Moon Jelly - Aurelia Scyphomedusa GZ-06
Sea Nettle - Chrysaora Scyphomedusa GZ-09
Purple-stripe Jelly - Pelagia Scyphomedusa GZ-07
Egg-yolk Jelly - Phacellophora Scyphomedusa GZ-08
Comb Jelly - Beroe Ctenophore
Lobed Comb Jelly - Bolinopsis Ctenophore
Lobate Comb Jelly - Leucothea Ctenophore
Sea Gooseberry - Pleurobrachia Ctenophore
Heteropod - Carinaria
Sea Angel - Cliopsis Gymnosome Pteropod
Sea Butterfly - Corolla Thecosome Pteropod
Salp - Cyclosalpa Pelagic Tunicate
Salp - Thetys Pelagic Tunicate
All photographs © David Wrobel / Pelagia Photography and may not be copied or reproduced without permission!
