Atlantic Sea Nettles: Flowers of the ocean

By Matt Harvey

Key Points

The Atlantic Sea Nettle has a bell typically pale, pinkish, or yellowish, often with reddish-brown stripes.
Research suggests they drift near the surface, diving deeper when conditions are rough, and are less active in cold water.
It seems likely they are mostly solitary, with minimal social interactions, possibly using chemical cues for communication.
The evidence leans toward them eating small marine life like zooplankton, fish, and other jellyfish, using stinging tentacles to capture prey.
Fun facts include a 6-18 month lifespan, painful stings to humans, and impacts on fishing due to overpopulation.

Colors

The Atlantic Sea Nettle’s bell is usually pale, pinkish, or yellowish, often featuring radiating reddish-brown stripes, making it a striking subject for underwater photography.

Behaviors

They drift near the surface, using bell pulsations to move, and can dive deeper when conditions get rough. They’re less active in cold water, which can lead to sinking and potential starvation.

Social Skills and Diet

Research suggests they are mostly solitary, with minimal social interactions, possibly using chemical cues. They eat zooplankton, small fish, and other jellyfish, capturing prey with stinging tentacles.

Fun Facts

With a lifespan of 6-18 months, their stings can cause pain, and they impact fishing by clogging nets and competing with fish, often increasing near human habitats due to environmental changes.

A Photographic Journey with the Atlantic Sea Nettle: Beauty, Sting, and Everything In Between

The Atlantic Sea Nettle (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) is a captivating marine organism, renowned for its striking appearance and dynamic behaviors, making it a prime subject for photographers and ocean enthusiasts. This detailed note provides a comprehensive overview, drawing from multiple reliable sources to ensure accuracy and depth, particularly relevant for enthusiasts like those at One Toad Photography.

Appearance and Colors

The Atlantic Sea Nettle is named for its bell, which can grow up to 40 cm (16 in) in diameter, typically pale, pinkish, or yellowish, often with radiating more deeply colored stripes on the exumbrella, especially near the margin. It can also appear white or opaque without stripes, with small, white dots and reddish-brown stripes, enhancing its ethereal, semi-transparent look. The bell is bell-shaped, with a width between 5–9.84” (12.7-25 cm), a height of 2.36–4.33” (6-11 cm), and an overall length, including tentacles, of 17.7–35” (45-89 cm). The edges of the bell are developed into lobes, bearing tentacles arranged in groups, covered with clusters of stinging cells (nematocysts). Below the bell, it has four long, thick, frilled oral arms, fused at the base, adding to its fluted appearance. For photographers, the translucent bell and colorful stripes offer a canvas for capturing light and shadow, especially in clear coastal waters.

Behaviors

Atlantic Sea Nettles are pelagic, inhabiting mostly the top of the water column, with a preference for coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean, especially along the U.S. East Coast from New England to the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico, with larger numbers in the Chesapeake Bay. They are commonly found in high-salinity open ocean, lower salinity bays, and brackish water of estuaries. They swim using bell movements to pump water and propel forward, often drifting on ocean currents without well-defined home ranges. They remain near the surface but can dive deeper, up to 26.9 meters, when surface currents become rough, and are rarely found below 30 m. They make extensive vertical movements over several hours, suggesting a dynamic presence in the water column. In cold water, their ability to pulsate the swimming bell is impeded, leading to sinking to the bottom, potential starvation, and large biomass deposits on the sediment surface, particularly in winter months around the Chesapeake Bay. For photographers, their surface presence and vertical migrations offer opportunities for both surface and underwater shots, capturing their graceful movements against the backdrop of the ocean.

Social Skills and Mating

Research suggests Atlantic Sea Nettles are largely solitary, with minimal social interactions, though they can be found in loose groups or blooms, especially during favorable conditions. Communication is likely via chemical cues, detected through sensory organs, which also help them perceive orientation and light changes, but this is not thoroughly studied. They are protandrous hermaphrodites, starting life as males and then becoming females, undergoing metamorphosis with a benthic polyp stage before developing into a pelagic adult medusae. They can reproduce asexually through budding and sexually, with breeding seasons varying by location—summer to autumn in the North Sea, typically lasting 3–4 months. About 95% may strand and die after gamete release, reflecting their short, intense life cycle. For photographers, their solitary nature means focusing on individual shots, with potential for capturing reproductive behaviors during breeding seasons.

Diet and Hunting

The diet is carnivorous, consuming a variety of marine invertebrates and plankton, including zooplankton, copepods like Acartia and Centropages sp., decapod larvae, crustacean eggs, larval fish, and chaetognaths. They also feed on smaller jellies, fish, minnows, and mosquito larvae, using their tentacles, equipped with nematocysts, to stun and capture prey. The oral arms facilitate prey transfer to the mouth, with each tentacle capable of great elongation for hunting. They are opportunistic feeders, often taking advantage of dense plankton blooms. For photographers, their hunting behavior can make for dynamic shots, capturing the moment they snare prey with their tentacles, though care must be taken to avoid close encounters due to their sting.

Fun and Informative Facts

The Atlantic Sea Nettle has a typical lifespan of 6-18 months, with most individuals potentially stranding and dying after gamete release, weighing between 0.44–5.3 lb (0.2–2.4 kg). They are a summer visitor to UK shores, found in cold or temperate waters (4°C to 28°C), from sea level to depths rarely exceeding 30 m. They contribute to the global issue of jellyfish overpopulation, impacting fishing communities by bursting nets, competing with fish, and affecting power production, predicted to migrate northwards due to global warming. Their stings are painful to humans, with wounds causing moderate to severe discomfort but rarely fatal, except by allergic reaction, and can sting even when dead, so beachgoers are advised to look but not touch. They host parasitic amphipods, and while not on any endangered list, their population stability is monitored due to ecological impacts. Culturally, they are a subject of interest for marine conservation, with sightings reported in citizen science initiatives like those by the Marine Conservation Society How to identify UK jellyfish.

Photography Tips for Enthusiasts

For photographers, the Atlantic Sea Nettle’s frequent presence near the surface, especially in summer, provides excellent opportunities for capturing its vibrant colors and dynamic behaviors. Their translucent bells and colorful stripes are best photographed in clear, shallow waters, with early morning or late afternoon light enhancing their ethereal quality. Underwater shots can capture their vertical migrations, while surface shots can highlight their drifting motion. Their solitary nature means focusing on individual subjects, using telephoto lenses for close-ups without risking stings. Always wear protective gear, like wetsuits, and remember jellyfish can sting even when dead. Their hunting behavior offers dynamic action shots, aligning with the interests of One Toad Photography.

Summary Table of Key Characteristics

Category	Details
Colors	Pale, pinkish, or yellowish bell, often with reddish-brown stripes, semi-transparent.
Behaviors	Drifts near surface, dives deeper when rough, less active in cold water, pelagic.
Social Skills	Largely solitary, minimal interactions, likely chemical communication.
Diet	Zooplankton, small fish, other jellyfish, uses stinging tentacles.
Fun Facts	Lifespan 6-18 months, painful stings, impacts fishing, increasing populations.

This detailed note ensures a comprehensive understanding, catering to both general interest and specific photographic pursuits, enhancing appreciation for this remarkable marine creature.

Key Citations

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