mooonjellies: The Pelagia Noctiluca, also called...

The Pelagia Noctiluca, also called the Mauve Stinger, are jellyfish commonly found in warm and temperate waters all over the world. They are bioluminescent and the light they produce is given off in the form of flashes when they are stimulated by the waves. They are often pink and purple in color, but also can have blue, brown, or yellow pigments. Their sting is harmful to humans, causing irritation, nasty burns, and sometimes scarring. These jellyfish are unique in that, unlike most jellyfish, they skip the polyp stage and grow directly from an embryo into a tiny jellyfish. They also swim in extremely large swarms. Actually, off the coast of Northern Ireland in 2007, a swarm of over a billion mauve stingers drifted over cages from an organic fish farm, killing over 120,000 fish and causing $2 billion in damage. Crazy!
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(via mooonjellies)