Australian? .Mislabeled. It's marked as a sea wasp, immortal jelly, etc etc. what actually is it?
Posted by number1smussyf4n@reddit | marinebiology | View on Reddit | 7 comments
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Snarktopus8@reddit
Asked the Smithsonian Jelly expert-
“Looks like Spirocodon or something similar. Other close genera are Polyorchis, Scrippsia. All in hydrozoan family Coynidae”
dboti9k@reddit
Since you have the ear of a Smithsonian Jelly expert (which is rad as hell), could this be considered Batesian mimicry? These things sure look a lot like cubozoans, so I could imagine something seeing the bell and bugging out.
Snarktopus8@reddit
from me, but I’ll ask: It could be. Bayesian mimicry only works if the toxic animal doesn’t kill its predators, but rather makes them ill. That evolutionary trait takes advantage of the ability for the predator to learn. can’t learn if you’re dead - aren’t cubazoans extremely toxic? Also I only know of it with brightly colored critters.
Hotdog_Broth@reddit
I wish my “call a friend” lifeline was the Smithsonian jelly expert
Snarktopus8@reddit
lol right!? I lucked out, somehow!
the_mindful_microbe@reddit
It looks like some sort of ctenophore
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