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Stalked Jellyfish

Stauromedusae (Staurozoa)

Size – On average, around 2 centimeters.

Stalked Jellyfish are a rare, trumpet-shaped jelly with unique sucker ball ends on their tentacles.

The name refers to the stalk located in the center of the umbrella.

These tiny dudes can be found attached to eelgrass, algae, and rocks in the Northern Hemisphere’s marine polar, near-shore, and shallow waters. Some larger Stalked Jellyfish can actually be found deep near hydrothermal vents.

Their diet consists almost entirely of small crustaceans, but they are known to eat some small snails, marine worms, and some larvae.

They attach themselves to things such as algae, eelgrass, or rocks and usually remain there for the rest of their lives.

They are the only living Order of the Class Staurozoa. There are an estimated 50 species of Stalked Jellies.

Stalked Jellyfish (Juvenile) Graphic
Red Stalked Jellyfish Clickable
By HE Westlake - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
Stalked Jellyfish (Haliclystus antarcticus) Gallery
By André C. Morandini - Miranda, L. S., Collins, A. G., Marques, A. C. (2010). Molecules clarify a cnidarian life cycle – the “Hydrozoan” Microhydrula limopsicola is an early life stage of the staurozoan Haliclystus antarcticus. PLoS ONE 5(4): e10182. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010182, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org
Stalked Jellyfish (Haliclystus sp.) Gallery 3
By Minette Layne - https://www.flickr.com/photos/minette_layne/3663272692/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/