- Aquarium of the Pacific
Common names for this comb jelly are American comb jelly. North American comb jelly, sea walnut, warty comb jelly, and comb jellyfish. It is in a group of gelatinous animals called ‘lobate ctenophores’ because of the presence of two large oral lobes. While not sea jellies, comb jellies have a close relationship as is indicated by their translucent gelatinous bodies. However, unlike most sea jellies, they do not sting. It is not a problem in waters of the western Atlantic where it is a native species; in contrast, it is an invasive species in some European waters where it has caused enormous economic damage.
Facts and Features
- Geographic Distribution
Endemic: east coasts of North and South America from the Canadian Maritime Provinces to the southern tip of South America. Invasive species: Black Sea, Azov, Aegean and Marmara Seas, western coast of Sweden, southern and northern Baltic Sea.
- Amazing Facts
The ballast water of ships unintentionally introduced Mnemiopsis leidyi into the Black Sea and adjacent seas in 1982. In 1999 it appeared in the Caspian Sea, introduced in the ballast water of oil tankers; in 2006 in waters on the western coast of Sweden and the southern Baltic Sea; and in 2007, the northern Baltic Sea. The American comb jelly is now listed by the Global Invasive Species Program as among the 100 of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species.
- At the Aquarium
The habitat for this comb jelly species is in the Ocean on the Edge Exhibit
