Jellyfish …

A trip to the beach in the last few weeks has revealed a massive influx of jellyfish (and tourists). These particular jellyfish (and many of the tourists) have a distinct red colouration.

The third shot was achieved by getting in the water and shooting upwards including the reflection from the surface.

Calling, once again, on the amazing resource that is iNaturalist I believe that this is Crambione mastigophora common enough in the Indian Ocean and known to “bloom” from time to time. The dome grows to about 15cm in diameter. They feed on invertebrates and small fish. When prey come in contact with those tentacles they are stung and then transferred to the mouth under the dome.

The common name given by iNaturalist is Sea Tomato but that is shared by some other critters including a sea anemone in the Mediterranean. Elsewhere I have found it called Tomato Jellyfish which I think a better choice.

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