Upside-down Jellyfish

ID points

• Lies upside down on the bottom, bell down and oral arms up
• Oral arms branch like twigs, resembling a clump of seaweed
• Gets its energy by sunbathing with symbiotic algae inside it

Basics

Family

Cassiopeidae

Length

15–30 cm

Depth

0-10 m

Regions

Estuary & freshwater

Distribution

Shallow tropical waters, mangroves and lagoons

Habitat

Sheltered shallow lagoons and mangroves

Diet

Products of symbiotic algae and plankton

Easily confused with

Brain CoralDome-shaped colony with winding grooves like a brainCushion StarArms completely reduced, the whole animal like a five-cornered bunSea AnemoneA ring of waving tentacles on top of a cylindrical body

Fun fact

It settles on the seabed with its tentacles pointing upwards, topping up its nutrition with the photosynthesis carried out by the symbiotic algae in its tissues. No jellyfish is more of a stay-at-home.