There’s no such thing as a jellyfish

For every moon jelly pulsing along the coast, there are deep-sea relatives that defy generalization. Learn more in this wonderful video from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and marine biologist Steve Haddock – introducing jelly-like life forms that inhabit the ocean.

Most people are familiar with the basic idea of a jellyfish and have seen sea nettles, often washed ashore on beaches. But the ocean contains an astonishing array, from gelatinous relatives of the earthworm to bioluminescent comb jellies with “ciliary plates that flutter like eyelashes” and “sticky tentacles that capture prey much like a spider web,” according to Haddock.

Haddock believes that understanding the diversity of jellyfish is an important first step in understanding life in the ocean – the largest habitat on Earth.

Marine biologist Steve Haddock studies deep-sea and open-ocean gelatinous zooplankton (another way of saying jellyfish), molecular phylogenetics (genes), and bioluminescence (biological production of light). He conducts his research at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, CA.

Read Steve Haddock’s blog at EarthSky

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

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