West Coast sea nettle

The West Coast sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens), also known as the Pacific sea nettle, is a type of Scyphozoa which lives in the Pacific Ocean. For humans its sting is usually irritating, but rarely dangerous.

Chrysaora fuscescens
The Pacific sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens).
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Scyphozoa
Order:	Semaeostomeae
Family:	Pelagiidae
Genus:	Chrysaora
Species:	C. fuscescens
Binomial name
Chrysaora fuscescens Brandt, 1835

Habitat

The West Coast sea nettle is found near the coasts of California and Oregon, but some live in the waters north to the Gulf of Alaska, west to the seas around Japan and south to the Baja California Peninsula.

Description

The West Coast sea nettle have a golden-brown bell with a little shade of red. In the wild, the bell can grow to be larger than one meter (three feet) in diameter, but most are less than 50 cm. The long white arms and the 24 maroon tentacles may be as long as 3.6 to 4.6m (12 to 15 feet).

Feeding

Like most Cnidaria, the West Coast sea nettle is carnivorous. They catch their prey by using their Nematocyst-laden tentacles. The toxin(poison) in their Nematocyst are effective against their prey and humans. Since West Coast sea nettles can not chase their prey, they must eat as they drift, by spreading out their tentacles like a large net, the West Coast sea nettle is able to catch food as it passes by. When a prey brushes against the tentacles, thousands of nematocysts are released, launching barbed stingers which release a paralyzing toxin, then the oral arms begin digestion as they push the prey into the West Coast sea nettle's mouth. The West Coast sea nettle feeds on different types of zooplankton, crustaceans, salps, pelagic snails, small fish as well as their eggs and larvae, and other jellyfish.