Apolemia uvaria
| Apolemia uvaria | |
|---|---|
| File:Apolemia uvaria.jpg | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Hydrozoa |
| Order: | Siphonophorae |
| Family: | Apolemiidae |
| Genus: | Apolemia |
| Species: | A. uvaria
|
| Binomial name | |
| Apolemia uvaria (Lesueur, 1815)
| |
Apolemia uvaria, commonly known as string jellyfish, and barbed wire jellyfish,[1] is a colonial siphonophore.[2] As with all siphonophores, string jellyfish look and function much like a single organism, but each Apolemia uvaria is a colony of specialised minute organisms (zooids), permanently attached to each other and physiologically connected to the extent that they cannot survive alone.
String jellyfish are colonial animals that may reach 3 m in total length and have a diameter of 2–5 cm. The colony is formed of a central string, bearing groups of pink and white tentacles, which clump together or extend. The whole colony has a gas float at the front and a set of swimming bells.[3] This colonial animal is pelagic and is found in oceans worldwide in midwater.[3] They are often found at surface level but can also be found 1000 meters deep in the ocean.[4] These ocean predators act like drift nets, spreading their tentacles to catch plankton. The tentacles can sting humans painfully.[2][3][5]
As of 2025[update] string jellyfish have been proliferating in seas around Norway and Scotland, and causing mass deaths of farmed salmon. The increase has been attributed to rising sea temperatures, and to fish farms discarding waste upon which the jellyfish feed.[6]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Jones, Georgina. A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula. SURG, Cape Town, 2008. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c Wrobel D. & Mills C. 2003. Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates: a guide to the common gelatinous animals. Sea Challengers. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Apolemia uvaria (Lesueur, 1815)
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Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
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