Crystal Jelly

Aequorea victoria

Aequorea victoria has a typical alternation between medusa and hydroid stages of the life cycle; only the medusa is shown here. It has a contractile mouth and manubrium at the center, with up to 100 radial canals that extend to the bell margin. The bell margin carries up to 150 tentacles. The bioluminescence of this species led to the discovery of green fluorescent protein, which has been very important as a biological research tool.

Hydrozoa: Aequoreidae

Back to Cnidaria of Orange County, California
Back to Natural History of Orange County, California