Crown-shaped jellies will appear at the Aquarium
For the first time, visitors can see polyps of the coronate jellyfish from the genus Nausithoe in the exhibits of the Primorsky Aquarium. The culture of this jellyfish is a new phase of the jellyfish breeding program which has been successfully run at the scientific and educational center for a number of years.
“The coronate polyps have come to us almost by chance – we found them on live rocks that we had purchased for the reef tank exhibits,” said Marat Khaidarov, Head of the Department of Exotic Aquatic Species Husbandry. “We relocated the rocks with polyps from the main reef, provided them with special conditions and increased their nutrition so that the polyp colony grows larger. Coronate polyps are interesting because they occur on reefs, living peacefully side-by-side with corals and sea anemones. For this reason, they are on display in two exhibits: in the Microworld exhibit one can see how the polyps live on the coral reef, and in the jellyfish exhibit guests can get an up-close look at them through a magnifying glass.”
Unlike soft polyps of other jellyfishes, for instance, such as Aurelia and Cassiopea species, coronate polyps are equipped with a protective tube that they can retreat into if disturbed. The coronate jellyfish is the fourth tropical jelly species exhibited at the Aquarium.
“This year we have also found success in breeding clinging jellyfish: we managed not only to bring their polyps to the budding of juvenile medusae but to take photos of the process as well,” stressed Marat Khaidarov. “If everything goes well, these tiny jellies will be added to the exhibit in just a couple of months which is much earlier than the appearance of this species in our waters.”
General Information:
— Coronate jellyfish of the genus Nausithoe are rather small: their bell is at most 2 cm in diameter.
— The Sea of Japan is home to cold-water coronate jellyfish from the genus Atorella.
— Coronate jellyfish get their name from their resemblance to a crown.
— Live rocks are fragmented pieces of a coral reef broken off by the surf; these natural odds and ends are inhabited by those microscopic organisms and tiny animals that live on the reef.
— Clinging jellyfish are poisonous. Their venom is a mixture of several toxins which makes their stings particularly painful and dangerous.