Best Ctenophora

The bloodbelly comb jelly, Lampocteis cruentiventer, is a deep-sea ctenophore known from the Pacific Ocean and formally described in 2001. Its dark red stomach helps conceal flashes produced by bioluminescent prey, because red wavelengths penetrate poorly in the deep sea. Despite its common name and...

Cestum veneris, commonly called Venus's girdle, is a marine ctenophore rather than a true jellyfish. Its transparent, ribbon-like body can reach roughly 1.5 metres in length, and rows of beating cilia produce iridescent bands while providing propulsion. It inhabits warm seas and drifts or swims in o...

Beroe cucumis is a marine comb jelly, or ctenophore, with a transparent, saclike body and rows of cilia that refract light as the animal swims. Unlike tentacle-bearing ctenophores, members of the genus Beroe have a wide mouth and feed on other comb jellies, swallowing prey whole or biting pieces fro...

A cydippid ctenophore remarkable for incorporating functional nematocysts sequestered from its cnidarian prey into its own tentacles, a phenomenon known as kleptocnidae.

A small, spherical ctenophore common in North Pacific coastal waters that uses two long, sticky retractable tentacles to capture copepods and other zooplankton near the surface.

Arctic cydippid ctenophore abundant in polar and subarctic seas, recognized as one of the most ecologically significant gelatinous predators in high-latitude ecosystems.

Bathocyroe fosteri is a deep-sea lobate ctenophore found in mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones, capable of bioluminescent flashing as a defensive response.

Sole member of the order Thalassocalycida, first described by Madin and Harbison in 1978, distinguished by an unusual medusa-like body unlike that of all other comb jellies.

A tentacle-less ctenophore in the order Beroida that feeds exclusively by engulfing other comb jellies, and has been studied as a biological control for invasive Mnemiopsis.

A deep-sea ctenophore in family Bathyctenidae found in mesopelagic zones worldwide, notable for producing blue bioluminescence in the open ocean.

A ctenophore rather than a true jellyfish, widely distributed across the North Atlantic and Arctic, using sticky tentacles to capture copepods and other zooplankton.

A cydippid ctenophore described in 1987, notable for tentacles bearing unique helical muscle fibers enabling rapid coiling, a prey-capture trait absent in closely related species.

A lobate ctenophore native to the North Atlantic capable of consuming large quantities of copepods and fish eggs, occasionally forming dense blooms in shelf seas.

Ocyropsis maculata is a ctenophore (family Ocyropsidae) notable for using muscular lobes to swim actively, an unusual locomotion strategy among comb jellies.

Leucothea multicornis is a large ctenophore in family Leucotheidae, found in tropical and subtropical oceans and noted for its many elongated lateral lobes.

Lobate ctenophore native to the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, sibling species to M. leidyi, which devastated Black Sea fisheries after accidental introduction in the 1980s.

Large lobate ctenophore of the eastern Pacific Ocean, notable for its elaborate oral lobes and auricles; its epithet 'pulchra' (Latin: beautiful) reflects its striking appearance.

A lobate ctenophore found in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters, one of the few ctenophore species adapted to polar environments and a component of Southern Ocean zooplankton.

Deep-water bereid ctenophore found in bathypelagic and abyssal zones, notable as one of the few ctenophore species adapted to extreme deep-sea environments.

A transparent lobate ctenophore found in tropical and subtropical Atlantic waters, distinguished from related species by its near-colorless, glassy appearance.

A ribbon-shaped ctenophore in order Cestida found in tropical and subtropical open ocean waters, representing one of the flattest body plans among comb jellies.

Slender bereid ctenophore that, like all members of genus Beroe, entirely lacks tentacles and feeds exclusively by engulfing other ctenophores whole.

A cydippid ctenophore found across multiple ocean basins, characterized by long retractable tentacles bearing adhesive colloblasts used to capture small zooplankton prey.

Oceanic ctenophore whose species name combines Greek roots meaning 'beautiful comb-bearer,' setting it apart among comb jellies by its notably ornate external structure.

A deep-sea ctenophore in the family Bathyctenidae, inhabiting meso- and bathypelagic zones, first formally described by Moser in 1909 from oceanographic expedition collections.

Aulacoctena acuminata is a cydippid ctenophore of open oceanic waters, recognizable by its elongated transparent body and two long retractile tentacles used to capture prey.

Open-ocean lobate ctenophore with a highly transparent body; its epithet 'fugiens' (Latin: fleeing) alludes to its rapid escape response when disturbed.

A tentaculate ctenophore in the family Pleurobrachiidae found in Pacific and Atlantic waters, closely related to the more widely studied sea gooseberry Pleurobrachia pileus.

Cydippid ctenophore with a compact, gland-shaped body reflected in its epithet 'glandiformis,' found in open-ocean waters across multiple ocean basins.