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Aequorea macrodactyla

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description Aequorea macrodactyla Overview

Aequorea macrodactyla is a species of hydrozoan, specifically a large hydromedusa, found in the marine waters of the western Pacific Ocean. The jellyfish is notable for its transparent, gelatinous bell and its inherent bioluminescent capabilities, producing flashes of light along its marginal tentacles. It is scientifically significant because it belongs to the same genus as Aequorea victoria, the organism from which the green fluorescent protein (GFP) was originally extracted. Researchers study this genus to better understand biological light emission and cellular marking.

help Aequorea macrodactyla FAQ

Is Aequorea macrodactyla a jellyfish or something else?

It is a hydrozoan hydromedusa in the family Aequoreidae, so jellyfish is a useful common label but hydrozoan is the more exact classification. The species has a transparent gelatinous bell and is associated with marine waters of the western Pacific. [WoRMS taxonomic record](https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxlist&tName=Aequorea)

How does Aequorea macrodactyla produce light?

Like other luminous Aequorea, it uses the photoprotein aequorin and a GFP-related system. Calcium triggers the aequorin reaction, producing blue light that can be shifted toward green by fluorescent protein. [Species overview](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aequorea_macrodactyla)

How can you distinguish it from Aequorea victoria?

They are related species, but Aequorea victoria is the famous Northeast Pacific crystal jelly associated with the discovery of GFP, while Aequorea macrodactyla is a western Pacific species. Identification should rely on bell, radial-canal and tentacle features, not glow color alone. [Aequorea biology notes](https://faculty.washington.edu/cemills/Aequorea.html)

What does Aequorea macrodactyla eat?

It is a predator of small planktonic prey, using its tentacles to catch organisms in the water column. Its transparent bell and gelatinous body are typical of a drifting hydromedusa rather than a bottom-dwelling animal.

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