Photo of the Week: Dancing Phyllorhiza punctata

Today's photo features Phyllorhiza punctata a species of jellyfish also known as the white-spotted jellyfish. It is native to the West Pacific from Australia to Japan, but is actually an invasive species in the Gulf of Mexico and other locations. In these habitats, the white-spotted jelly has been identified as a threat due to its consumption of "more than a fair share" of zooplankton. P. punctata average (18–20 inches in bell diameter, but in October 2007, one 28 inch wide specimen, perhaps the largest ever recorded, was found on Sunset Beach, North Carolina.

I took this photo while visiting the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

As a special this week, I am making this image freely available for online editorial use (only) as long as attribution is clearly given to Paige's Photography, http://paigesphotos.photoshelter.com/. Enjoy!

For more cool images, visit my photography website.