Invisible Oceans Founder's Collection: Invisible Oceans #51: Bolinopsis I

The strong rainbow colours that all comb Jellies of the open oceans display with their beating comb plates are seen here in this Bolinopsis Plankton-feeding individual. This species can be the size of a fist and seem to be adept at catching Pteropod Mollusc species that frequent the same tropical waters. The indigestible shell of the Pteropod is ejected as soon as all the soft parts are digested, but before now we have seen these Comb Jellies with many Pteropod shells within their digestive system, so they can be quite effective predators in their own right. Relatives of these are certainly known to account for huge numbers of larval fish.

Lizard Island, Australia (2004)

Nikon F4 | Micro Nikkor 105mm f2.8 | Fuji Velvia