Pelagia Noctiluca
This jellyfish is found mostly in the waters of Bermuda, in warm and temperate waters. They have also been spotted within the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the coast of California. The jellyfish has an appearance hue of a shade between pink and purple. Hence their appearance they have two nick corresponding nick names; the mauve (french word for purple) stinger and the purple striped jelly. They have blue and brown beautiful pigments adorning their elegant bodies. The Pelagia Noctiluca has eight tentacles, each reaches an approximate length of ten meters. It also has sixteen pouches and sixteen lappets.
The Pelagia Noctiluca is known to feed on several in sea creatures such as fish eggs, Copepoda, Cladocera and even Hydromedusaes. When the jellyfish touches a prey, chemicals are released that immediately paralyse the prey and the tentacles then reach around the prey and suck it in to devour it. The Pelagia Noctiluca likes to feed on small animals and that is why it simply floats around touching prey as it goes and eats. That is why during the day and night they are seen to be beautifully floating around the sea waters and consistently searching for food as they swim along the waters. They are known to come close to shores during the winter as well. Since these elegant purple swimmers have no commercial benefits, hence they have no risk of being endangered by human factors. Stay off the coast in the winter!
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Written by Nathan Dickerson and Sudarsana Sinha.