Served sunny side up, this species goes by the Fried Egg Jellyfish or Egg-Yolk Jellies for their resemblance to a common breakfast food.
Fried Egg Jellyfishes are from the class Scyphozoa meaning they are true jellies and from the family Cepheidae. The Fried Egg Jellyfish spend most of their time motionless but will pulse their bell while drifting the seas.
The Fried Egg Jellyfish or the species Cotylorhiza Tuberculata are commonly found in the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea waters. They will sometimes drift out into the Atlantic Ocean. Phacellophora Camtschatica is a much larger species of the Fried Egg Jelly. They are found in Eastern Pacific waters, from the Gulf of Alaska to Chile, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean.
While this Jellyfish may have stinging cells, according to Oceana, the sting is so mild the tentacles act as a shelter for small fish and crabs in the open ocean.
The Fried Egg Jellyfish only live for around six months of a year, from the summer season to the winter. “Researchers think their short life cycle is an adaption to their highly seasonal environment,” according to Oceana.org. The species reproduces asexually and produce baby jellies, otherwise known as Medusae.
The conservation status has yet to be confirmed by the IUCN Red List, but Oceana describes its population as having ebbs and flows. Over the warm summer months, large swarms of this species have been recognized, siting the idea of ebbs and flows.
While this species does not have a conservation status, many animals including sea turtles, and a wide variety of species of fish and marine birds rely on the Fried Egg or Egg-Yolk jellies and other gelatinous creatures for food, making it important to keep harmful plastic and other trash out of the seas.
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