Cnidaria, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 8, 2021

Why are thousands of stinging jellyfish crowding the Rhode Island coast?

Thousands of jellyfish are gathering by the coast of Rhode Island, and they're not afraid to use their stingers against potential foes, according to news sources. The jellyfish, known as Atlantic sea nettles (Chrysaora quinquecirrha), thrive in warm waters, which may partially explain the recent population boom over the past...

Aug 11, 2021

Translucent jellyfish, with fish trapped inside it, washes up on UK beach

A dead jellyfish that recently washed up on a beach in the U.K. shows off its last meal — a whole, and rather surprised-looking, fish — through its translucent bell, stunning photos reveal. The jelly is a compass jellyfish (Chrysaora hysoscella), named for its brown, V-shaped markings that look like...

Aug 12, 2021

Mysterious blood-red jellyfish may be rare species unknown to science, researchers say

Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) may have discovered a previously unknown jellyfish, bobbing along almost 2,300 feet (700 meters) underwater. Like a floating beret fringed with thin tassels, the jelly in question has a blood-red body and appears to belong to the genus Poralia, the researchers...

Nov 4, 2021

Photo trickery captures ethereal jellyfish 'ballet' in Spanish lake

A clever photographer has used some camera trickery to capture a stunning shot of what appear to be around a dozen dancing jellyfish in a Spanish lake. But there's a twist: There are only two jellyfish. Spanish photographer Angel Fitor snapped the photo, titled Medusa Ballet (named for the free-floating...

Dec 2, 2021

Giant 'phantom jellyfish' that eats with mouth-arms spotted off California coast

Scientists piloting a remote submarine have filmed mesmerizing footage of a giant phantom predator lurking in the deep waters of Monterey Bay, California. The giant phantom jellyfish (Stygiomedusa gigantea) was captured as it was serenely floating — its long, velvety mouth-arms trailing around it — at a depth of 3,200...

Dec 6, 2021

Scientists inserted disco 'strobe lights' into jellyfish to see how they function without brains

Jellyfish may be brainless, yet they can do surprisingly complex things with their simplistic nervous systems. Now, by fiddling with the genes of jellyfish, researchers have devised a way to spy on the animals' inner workings. In the new study, the researchers created a model using the jellyfish species Clytia...

Apr 21, 2022

Largest crown jellyfish ever discovered is a blood red, saucer-like weirdo

Scientists have discovered a new species of crown jellyfish that looks like a scarlet alien saucer in the sunless midnight zone of California's Monterey Bay. The newly described species, Atolla reynoldsi, measures about 5 inches (13 centimeters) in diameter and can have anywhere from 26 to 39 tentacles, researchers with...

Aug 2, 2022

Thousands of jellyfish swarm near Israel, mesmerizing images reveal

Jellyfish are swarming in massive numbers in the Mediterranean Sea, close to the port city of Haifa in northern Israel. The sea was bedazzled with thousands of white dots, according to The Jerusalem Post, which also reported that the swarm extended below the surface to depths of several hundred meters....

Oct 18, 2022

Thousands of cannonball jellyfish wash ashore after swarming North Carolina’s Outer Banks

Thousands of globular cannonball jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris) have washed ashore along a stretch of North Carolina coastline in what is being dubbed a jellyfish jamboree. Park rangers from the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, part of the National Park Service (NPS), snapped photos of the spectacle on Friday (Oct. 14) and...

Feb 27, 2023

Alien-like giant phantom jellyfish spotted in frigid waters off Antarctica

Rare sightings of giant phantom jellyfish — deep-sea creatures that look like UFO spaceships with thick ribbons streaming from their undersides — have been reported by cruise liner passengers who spotted the otherworldly animals off the coast of Antarctica, a new study finds. The giant phantom jellyfish (Stygiomedusa gigantea), one...

Apr 25, 2023

Newly discovered jellyfish is a 24-eyed weirdo related to the world's most venomous marine creature

Scientists in Hong Kong have discovered tiny, cube-shaped box jellyfish in a brackish shrimp pond that are completely unknown to science. The diminutive jellies have a completely transparent and colorless body, or bell, as well as 12 tentacles ending in small, paddle-like structures that enable the critters to speed through...

Oct 18, 2023

Tiny, highly venomous jellyfish stings 2 people in the middle of the ocean — forcing them to be airlifted to hospital

Two fishers from Australia were recently airlifted to hospital after being stung by one of the most venomous jellyfish in the world while they were far out on the ocean. The two unnamed men were on a boat around 12 miles (19 kilometers) off the coast of Dundee Beach in...