Cnidaria, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 17, 2015

Weird Mucus Parasites Are Actually Jellyfish

Microscopic parasites only a few cells large are essentially greatly degenerated jellyfish, a finding that could expand the definition of the animal kingdom, researchers say. When people think of an animal, they think of a macroscopic, multicellular, complex organism, and now they'll have to expand their definition of an animal...

Jun 22, 2016

Stinging Jellyfish Come to Jersey, But Beaches Still Safe

A dime-size jellyfish that can deliver severely painful stings has been spotted in New Jersey waters for the first time. Gonionemus vertens, commonly known as the clinging jellyfish, is responsible for the hospitalization of a man named Matt Carlo, according to a June 15 alert posted on Facebook by the...

Mar 1, 2017

Mysterious 'Cosmic' Jellyfish Spotted in Remote Ocean Depths

An ethereal, 'cosmic' jellyfish was spotted in some of the deepest reaches of the ocean, hovering near a previously unexplored seamount. The luminous sea creature, which may be a completely new species, was spotted by a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) roughly 9,800 feet (3,000 meters) below sea level in...

Apr 10, 2017

First Animal? Jellyfish May Take the Prize

If scientists were to draw an enormous family tree for all of Earth's animals, the oldest branch would belong to the jellyfish, a new study finds. The result is the latest in a decade-long debate over which came first: the jellyfish or the sponge. The sponge has long been a...

Sep 21, 2017

Jellyfish Don't Have Brains, But They Do Sleep

They don't have brains, or even anything more than a rudimentary nervous system, but jellyfish apparently do have bedtimes. New research finds that jellyfish enter a sleep-like state. If the study, published today (Sept. 21) in the journal Current Biology, is confirmed by future studies, jellyfish are the first-ever animals...

Oct 25, 2017

Rare Footage Captures Giant Jellyfish Living Under Arctic Ice

Biologists who explore the Alaskan Arctic ecosystem aren't just interested in polar bears. Some are also captivated by the gelatinous species hidden below the ice. Now, scientists have published rare footage of one of the Arctic's largest jellyfish drifting beneath the sea ice near Utqiaġvik, also known as Barrow, off...

Dec 13, 2017

Ancient Jellyfish Embryos Curled Up Like Accordions

A set of spherical fossils, each fossil tinier than a grain of sand, is not what it seemed. For years, researchers mistook these 537-million-year-old fossils for the embryos of arthropods, the group that includes insects, spiders and crabs. Now, a closer look reveals they really belong to the ancestors of...

May 23, 2018

This Mysterious, Deep-Sea Jellyfish Looks Like the Ghost of an Alien

The ROV, dubbed Hercules, recorded the unusual jellyfish — named Deepstaria enigmatica after the Deepstar 4000, a deep-sea submersible designed by the French explorer Jacques Cousteau — off the coast of Mexico's San Benedicto Island in the Pacific Ocean in November 2017, according to a new study published in the...

Sep 21, 2018

Family Finds Gooey 'Alien' Jellyfish on NZ Beach. And It Looks Like a Jell-O Mold.

A family on New Zealand's North Island were enjoying an early morning walk on Pakiri Beach last week when they came across a monstrous, gooey blob with a gelatinous grape-colored center. Although it resembled a tossed-out Jell-O mold, it wasn't for eating — the glob was an enormous lion's mane...

Oct 4, 2018

Rare, Blue Jellyfish-Like Creatures Wash Ashore in NJ, Puzzling Beachgoers

Weird, brilliant blue creatures with feather-like tentacles are washing ashore on the beaches of New Jersey, surprising beachgoers who aren't used to seeing turquoise blobs dotting the shore, according to news reports. These jellyfish-like critters are commonly known as blue buttons (Porpita porpita), but they aren't native to the Garden...

Jun 5, 2019

Dizzying Video Shows the Moment a Jellyfish Gets Caught in a Bubble Vortex

Here's a jellyfish video with a twist ending … actually, make that 40 or 50 twists. In a new, 1-minute clip taken by a snorkeler off the coast of Spain, a wee jellyfish ventures too close to an air-filled bubble ring rising up on a strong current. When the jelly...

Jul 16, 2019

Massive, Human-Size Jellyfish Stuns Divers Off the Coast of England

A pair of divers swimming off the southwestern tip of England hit the jelly jackpot last week after crossing paths with a hulking barrel jellyfish (Rhizostoma pulmo) — a rarely seen species that can grow about as large as a full-grown human. Luckily, they filmed the whole thing. The divers...

Sep 17, 2019

Deep-Sea Explorers Find Rare Shapeshifting Jellyfish with a Prize Inside

What in the name of Neptune's beard is that thing? A ghost? An alien? The ghost of an alien? Such were the questions that vexed a team of deep-sea scientists aboard the Nautilus research vessel earlier this month, when their underwater recon robot encountered a limp, limbless creature hovering like...

Feb 13, 2020

Upside-down jellyfish release venom-filled 'bombs' in their snot

Upside-down jellyfish pulse on the ocean floor, their frilly arms stretched skyward as they release venom-filled blobs of mucus into the surrounding water, where the slime stings passing swimmers, new research reveals. These jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) look like strange, squidgy plants stuck to the ocean floor, and they tend to...

Mar 24, 2021

Millions of dead jellyfish are washing up around the world. 'The blob' could be to blame.

Like a tourist on a cruise ship, the by-the-wind sailor jellyfish (Velella velella) spends its days drifting aimlessly through the open sea, gorging itself on an endless buffet of complementary morsels. The jelly straddles the ocean's surface with a rigid sail poking just above the water and an array of...