The “Big Red” Jelly, Tiburonia granrojo
“Big red” is the nickname that MBARI marine biologists gave to this startlingly large jellyfish, which grows over 1 m (3 ft) in diameter. After determining that it was an entirely new species of jelly, they named it Tiburonia granrojo after MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle Tiburon.
This giant scyphomedusa would be hard to miss, except it lives deep below the oceans surface, at depths of 650 to 1,500 m (2,000 to 4,800 ft). “Big red” has since been observed in deep waters off the west coast of North America, Baja California, Hawaii, and Japan. It uses its four to seven fleshy “feeding arms” instead of stinging tentacles to capture food.
(via/photo credit: MBARI)
