The thimble jellyfish (Linuche unguiculata) is a species of cnidarian found in the warm West Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean. It is a tiny jellyfish with a straight-sided, flat-topped bell.This jellyfish is the most common cause of seabather's eruption, a reaction caused by the injection of juvenile jellyfish nematocysts into human skin.
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PlanktivoreA planktivore is an aquatic organism that feeds on planktonic food, including zooplankton and phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are usually photosynthet...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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SedentarySedentary animals lead such a type of lifestyle in which little to or no physical activity is done. These are mostly marine bottom-dwelling animals...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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SolitaryNo
Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe medusa of the thimble jellyfish has straight sides with sixteen grooves, and a flat top. The coronal groove between the top and sides provides flexibility. The margin of the bell has sixteen lappets (folds), the niches between these bearing alternately rhopalia (sense organs) and short tentacles (eight of each). There is no marginal ring canal. Symbiotic zooxanthellae give the bell an overall orangish-brown colour and the translucent mesoglea has dark flecks. This jellyfish can reach a diameter of 16 mm (0.6 in) and a height of 20 mm (0.8 in).
The thimble jellyfish is found in the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic Ocean, particularly around the West Indies and the Bahamas. Although it can occur in warm surface waters, it has been found at depths down to about 5,000 m (16,000 ft). Its presence in any particular location is related to such factors as the presence of prey, temperature, salinity and oxygen saturation of the water.
The thimble jellyfish swims constantly by pulsating its bell, rotating as it moves. It forms swarms in warm seas near the surface of the water. Aggregations have been reported covering a million square metres 1,000,000 m2 (1,200,000 sq yd). The jellyfish feeds on plankton, drawing a water current past its outstretched tentacles by pulsating the bell. When edible zooplankton are encountered, they are immobilised by the cnidocytes (stinging cells) and passed by the tentacles to the mouth on the underside of the bell. Thimble jellyfish are consumed by fish, sea turtles and other predators.
