Cassiopea xamachana

(Bigelow, 1892)

Vernacular names

English : Blue upside-down jellyfish
French : Méduse soupière de mangrove

Classification

Class : Scyphozoa
Order : Rhizostomeae
Family : Cassiopeidae
Notes : No subspecies known.

Identification

Adults can reach up to 15 cm in diameter. Its bell is greenish-brown with bluish tinge. Often seen upside down, its tentacles are translucent pink-violet with smaller white-tipped extensions protruding on sides of “arms”. Its bell is flatter than for other related species.

Range and habitat

The species occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean, around the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, maybe east Atlantic and Indo-Pacific as well. Lives in mangroves and shallow areas with low current and sea grasses.

Conservation

IUCN RED LIST : NOT LISTED
CITES : Not listed
Status : The species has a huge range (the extent remains to be understood) but it could be vulnerable to habitat loss locally.
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation