Cnidaria · cnidarians

Atlantic sea nettle

Chrysaora chesapeakei

Pelagiidae · sea nettlesIUCN: Not evaluated
Atlantic sea nettle
Photo: Eonn44 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

A stinging jelly that floods Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic estuaries every summer.

Fun factIt was described as a separate species from the offshore sea nettle only in 2017.

Waters
Northeast US, Northwest Atlantic
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries
Diet
Zooplankton & comb jellies
Size
Bell up to 25 cm

Classification

Cnidaria › Scyphozoa › Semaeostomeae › Pelagiidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Phylum Cnidaria cnidarians
    • Radially symmetric bodies with one opening that is both mouth and anus
    • Stinging cells (cnidocytes) fire tiny harpoons (nematocysts)
    • Two body forms: an attached polyp and a swimming bell (medusa)
  3. Class Scyphozoa true jellyfish
    • True jellyfish: the swimming bell (medusa) is the main life stage
    • Small polyps bud off baby jellies by splitting in stacks (strobilation)
    • Bell edge has sense organs (rhopalia) in notches
  4. Order Semaeostomeae flag-mouth jellyfish
    • Jellies with four long, frilly oral arms hanging from the mouth
    • Tentacles hang from the edge of the bell
  5. Family Pelagiidae sea nettles
    • Sea nettles and mauve stingers with long tentacles and frilly oral arms
    • Powerful stings
  6. Genus Chrysaora
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  7. Species Chrysaora chesapeakei Atlantic sea nettle

Closest relatives in the guide