Apolemia uvaria
| Apolemia uvaria | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Hydrozoa |
| Order: | Siphonophorae |
| Family: | Apolemiidae |
| Genus: | Apolemia |
| Species: | A. uvaria
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| Binomial name | |
| Apolemia uvaria (Lesueur, 1815)
| |
Apolemia uvaria, commonly known as string jellyfish, barbed wire jellyfish,[1] and long stringy stingy thingy, 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]- ^ Jones, Georgina. A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula. SURG, Cape Town, 2008. ISBN 978-0-620-41639-9
- ^ a b Gordon, Dennis (26 September 2016). "Cnidaria – the nettle animals". Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Manatu Taonga - Ministry for Culture and Heritage (New Zealand).
- ^ a b c Wrobel D. & Mills C. 2003. Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates: a guide to the common gelatinous animals. Sea Challengers. ISBN 0-930118-23-5
- ^ Apolemia uvaria (Lesueur, 1815)
- ^ Koumoundouros, Tessa (8 April 2020). "What The Heck Is This Long, Hypnotic Stringy Thing Floating in The Ocean?". ScienceAlert.
- ^ Taylor, Matthew (20 January 2025). "Campaigners call for action as jellyfish threaten Scottish salmon farms". The Guardian.
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