The bell of this small jellyfish is barely 10cm in diameter. On the underside, it has 4 oral arms in the centre and 8 tentacles or filaments that contain stinging cells and can be several metres long. It is transparent and dotted with luminescent pink or violet spots. It has the worst sting of all jellyfish in the Mediterranean. This planktonic species is found in the Mediterranean and in the north-east Atlantic up to the North Sea.
Did you know? When jellyfish invade our coastal waters, they do not “swim” towards the beach. They are simply transported by surface currents and pushed by the wind.
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Scyphozoa
Order: Semaeostomeae
Family: Semaeostomeae
Scientific name: Pelagia noctiluca
French: Pélagie
Spanish: Pelagia
Italian: Medusa luminosa
German: Leuchtqualle