Pacific sea nettle, Chrysaora fuscescens. Scyphozoa / jellies / jellyfish. Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Oregon, USA.

Pacific sea nettle, or Ortiga de mar (Chrysaora fuscescens), Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Oregon, USA. Although commonly named "jellyfish," jellies are plankton, not fish. Jellies (class Scyphozoa) lack the backbone (vertebral column) found in fish. Jellies have roamed the seas for at least 500 million years, making them the oldest multi-organ animal. A sea nettle hunts by trailing long tentacles covered with stinging cells to paralyze tiny plankton and other prey. Stung prey is moved to the frilly mouth-arms and on to the jelly's mouth.

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Contained in galleries: Oregon animals, sea life

Pacific sea nettle, or Ortiga de mar (Chrysaora fuscescens), Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Oregon, USA. Although commonly named "jellyfish," jellies are plankton, not fish. Jellies (class Scyphozoa) lack the backbone (vertebral column) found in fish. Jellies have roamed the seas for at least 500 million years, making them the oldest multi-organ animal. A sea nettle hunts by trailing long tentacles covered with stinging cells to paralyze tiny plankton and other prey. Stung prey is moved to the frilly mouth-arms and on to the jelly's mouth.