Crown jellies

Enter a far-out world where jellies dance, bloom and sting. These graceful and mysterious animals flaunt an array of fashions, from simple, see-through styles to vibrant colors with ruffles and beads. Some even glow when the light is just right.

In this Exhibit

Flower hat jelly

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.

Blubber jelly

Also known as the blue jelly, the blubber jelly comes in colors ranging from very light blue to dark purple and burgundy, and its bell pulses in a distinctive, staccatolike rhythm. Eight clublike oral arms that each contain several mouths transport food to the jelly's stomach.

Spotted jelly

The spotted jelly is also known as a "lagoon jelly" because it lives in bays, harbors and lagoons in the South Pacific. It has a rounded bell and four clumps of oral arms with clublike appendages that hang down below. Some of the larger spotted jellies actually have small fishes living with them. The fishes use the inside of a jelly's bell as protection from larger predators.

Mediterranean jelly

The unusual looking Mediterranean jelly, also known as the "fried egg" jelly, has a smooth, elevated bell surrounded by a ring. This jelly requires fresh sea water and lots of light. It feeds mainly on plankton, but also hosts symbiotic algae that produce food by photosynthesis. Its short, clublike appendages contain mouth-arm openings that are colored deep purple.

Crown jelly

Little is known about this species, but the crown jelly is distinguished by its array of about 30 "spikes" emanating from the broad, circular bell. Eight stout mouth-arms and more than 100 long, tapering, pointed appendages spring from this pinkish-purple jelly's central stomach.

Comb jelly


More Jellies

Cool Facts

  • Jellies are more than 95 percent water. They don't have bones, brains, blood, teeth or fins.
  • 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.

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