Red Jellyfish

Jellyfish have been a subject of fascination because of the way it moves, color, transparency, etc. Jelly fish are free swimming creatures found in the sea and in fresh water and come in a lot of vibrant colors. Red jellyfish also called as the Big Red is one of the recently discovered jelly fish and is found in the depths of 600- 1500 meters. They grow upto 2 - 3 feet in diameter and as opposed to tentacles found usually in jelly fish these big reds have flesh oral arms. It differs from the normally found jelly fish in a lot of ways and is also found in a habitat not frequented by normal jellies.

The scientific name of the red jelly fish is Tiburonia granrojo and it is deep red in color. While most jellyfish are translucent and look delicate, this one looks thick and fleshy and there is nothing delicate about it. The red jelly fish use their wrinkled arms to eat and usually have four or seven of them. These arms are short compared to the long flowy tentacles of the usual jellyfish.

Only one specimen of this species which is 15 cms in length has been collected so far and studied. It was difficult to find a specimen that was small enough to be collected as they are very big in size. So a lot of questions about the red jelly fish remain unanswered. Since it lives more than a mile below the surface, it has been studied only by remote controlled submarines and there is a lot of mystery around this red jelly fish.

This is a very important link in classifying the jelly fish as the number of differences between it and the rest of the jelly fish led to the creation of a subfamily. It was found in Pacific Ocean and observations were done in Japan, Hawaii and California. They do not have any marginal tentacles unlike other jelly fish. The temperature where the red jellyfish is found is very cold and is found to be around 2.6- 5 degree Celsius.

The fact that creatures of this size were only recently discovered tell us just how vast the earth is and how much remains yet to be discovered. The red jelly fish was spotted first in 1993 but it wasn't classified and studied in detail until 2003. it has no tentacles and uses it arms to capture food. A lot remains to be learnt about this red jellyfish like its food, its predators, its method of reproduction, etc.

It will surely be a long time before somebody can design an aquarium to keep it in as the conditions on the earth and the conditions at 1000 meters under water differ a lot. The temperature and the light conditions will be very difficult to mimic. Also observing a creature at those depths in not an easy task and will require the use of advanced technology and patience. Questions relating to its life span, how it eats, etc. are yet to be answered.

Learn more about Jellyfish, different Jellyfish Species, general Jellyfish Information, Jellyfish Pets and Jellyfish Safety

Written by Nathan Dickerson and Sudarsana Sinha.