Gonionemus vertens

Gonionemus vertens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Hydrozoa
Order:	Limnomedusae
Family:	Olindiidae
Genus:	Gonionemus
Species:	G. vertens
Binomial name
Gonionemus vertens A. Agassiz, 1862 [1]

Gonionemus vertens is a species of jellyfish.

Appearance

The appearance of Gonionemus vertens is usually described as having an transparent bell lined with up to 90 tentacles and colored gonads; orange, red, or violet if the specimen is female or yellow-brown if it is male. The gonads are arranged hanging from four radial canals so that when viewed from above, the gonads are lined perpendicularly. The manubrium, colored tan, hangs down in the middle. The whole jellyfish is only about 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) in diameter. The species is often found clinging to seaweed or eelgrass giving it the nickname "the clinging jellyfish". Polyps are tiny, only about 0.5 mm.

Distribution

In the United States, Gonionemus vertens specimen have been found on the Pacific coast, from The Aleutian Islands to Southern California, and on the Atlantic coast, from Massachusetts to New Jersey. In Asian waters they have been reported from northern Zhejiang, the Sea of Japan, Olga Bay and the northern Japanese Islands. And in Europe: from the Mediterranean Sea to Norway.

Gonionemus vertens has in addition been reported to be very venomous in waters near Japan and Russia. Previously reported as harmless in the Atlantic, there are now increasing numbers of stinging incidents occurring on the US Atlantic coast.^[2]

References

Further reading

• An all-purpose guide labeling and discussing venomous and poisonous marine animals -- Venomous and poisonous marine animals: a medical and biological handbook view here
• A paragraph description of The Clinging Jellyfish, Gonionemus vertens view here
• "Gonionemus vertens". JNCC.