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The deep-sea medusa (Paraphyllina)
The deep-sea medusa (Paraphyllina)
It belongs to the family Atollidae within the order Coronatae.
Many names can be Atolla jellyfish, crown jellyfish, coronate medusa, or alarm jelly.
A general description
A general description
Genus and Family: Paraphyllina is a genus of crown jellyfish. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Paraphyllinidae. The family includes three species.
Size: the diameter goes from 20 to 174 millimeters or 0.79 to 6.85 inches.
Shape: they have a deep groove running through their bell-shaped body with several mostly long tentacles, including a single, long, hypertrophied tentacle that has multiple purposes.
Color: they possess a striking crimson red pigment.
Distinctive Characteristics: Members of this family differ from those of the family Periphyllidae in a specific way:
They have four rhopalia (sensory organs) located on the bell margin, specifically on the radii.
This is in contrast to the arrangement in Periphyllidae, where the rhopalia are located between the radii.
Diet: crustaceans and floating nutrients such as marine snow. As they are predators, prey, and scavengers, they have the role in nutrient cycling and energy transfer within the ocean depths.
An example of a deep sea medusa
An example of a deep sea medusa
The deep red color helps mask the bioluminescence of eaten organisms.
Drawing
Drawing
Example with tenacles
Example with tenacles
The hypertrophied tentacle
Habitat and distribution
Habitat and distribution
These organisms thrive in the deep ocean, specifically in the “Midnight Zone” at depths ranging 1,000 to 4,000 meters which is 3,300 to 13,100 feet. The temperature is around 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) and the pressure is over 110 times that at sea level.
These depths are perfect for these jellies since red light doesn’t penetrate there so it actually appears completely black to predators who lurk there, hiding in plain sight. With depths this deep it remains mostly unexplored by humans, making any encounter with these cool creatures even more extraordinary and rare so therefore there is not much written down about their behavior in their natural habitat.
Their habitat locations span across the oceans of all around the world such as from the Arctic and Antarctic to the North Atlantic and Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico and the waters around New Zealand.
Bioluminescence
Bioluminescence
The medusa jellyfish have the bioluminescent ability as they can give off flashes of blue-greenish light a color visible in the deep ocean. They do that to attract its prey, to startle predators, or even attract bigger predators that can get rid of its attackers. In which this behavior of deterrence has earned the species the nickname: “alarm jelly.”
When they feel threatened, their lights glow in a series of glowing rings, which create an illusion of multiple jellyfish, making it difficult for predators to determine its size and location. This tactic buys time for the jellyfish to escape danger.
Technology
Technology
The atolla jellyfish distress signal of flashing bioluminescence was used as an inspiration for the Medusa stealth camera system that was created by Marine biologist Edith Widder in order to hopefully attract the giant squid. In which it did during one expedition the E-jelly successfully lured in a giant squid.
Editih came up with this idea of using stealth and blending in since many ROV's use bright white lights to see the darkness while exploring the deep sea and the hydraulic systems are noisy. Because the animals live in the deep, the dark ocean is perfect to hide from predators to survive and the white lights and noise likely scare these deep-sea creatures away. So, the Medusa instead uses red lights which are invisible in the deep-sea and has silent thrusters, so it can be serve as a stealthy observer of animals below the Twilight Zone. (Widder).
In order to attract animals into the view of the camera, the Medusa uses a bait attached to a bar mounted in front of it or an optical lure. Which this optical lure is known as the electronic jellyfish (e-jelly) the round ball attached to the Medusa. The scientists designed it after the bioluminescent display of the common deep-sea jellyfish Atolla wyvillei. Sometimes it is refer to as the ”bioluminescent burglar alarm.” It glows in a flashing wave of light that pinwheels around like the surface of a jellyfish’s body.
The Medusa is attached to a float at the surface by a line that goes down to 2,000 meters about 6,560 feet. It also takes a team to release and bring back the Medusa. As a part of the ship crew controls the ship’s A-frame and crank to lower the Medusa onto the sea, while the other members slowly let out the rope attached to the float. Once it's at the proper depth, they are able to track the location using the satellite-tracking beacon which is in the float. Then the Medusa is left alone in the deep sea for about 30 hours to collect data. Then after it is done it is then recovered by the team using the ship’s A-frame and crank again. (Widder)
Dr. Edith Widder's Medusa and e-jelly.
Deep-sea jellyfish Atolla seen in white light (top) Jellyfish bioluminescence (middle) the e-jelly designed to imitate its display (bottom). Image courtesy of Journey into Midnight: Light and Life Below the Twilight Zone.
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