Details
Mnemiopsis leidyi
The warty comb jelly is a transparent ctenophore with rainbow-lit comb rows. It eats small planktonic animals and can bloom densely in coastal waters.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
Native to the Atlantic, it has also spread into Palearctic seas. Bays, estuaries, and calm food-rich surface waters are typical habitats.
Length 7-12 cm; weight 5-40 g. The soft transparent oval body bears vertical comb rows that shimmer with iridescence. Broad side lobes give it a rounded drifting shape.
Cathemeral and solitary, it swims quietly with rows of beating cilia. Where prey is abundant, many individuals may accumulate.
A carnivore, it consumes zooplankton, fish eggs, and fish larvae. Sticky cells capture small prey in the water.
Hermaphroditic adults can mature quickly and release many eggs when conditions are good. Young resemble small adults as they grow.
It is listed as Least Concern. In introduced regions it can strongly alter plankton food webs and affect fisheries.
