Rafi Amar, Israel
Info
Coeloplana astericola Mortensen, 1927
The scientific name for comb jellyfish (Ctenophora) refers to the comb-like plates that cover the “ribs” that give them their name.
Although comb jellyfish look like jellyfish at first glance, they are not considered true jellyfish in zoological terms, partly because they lack the cnidocytes characteristic of jellyfish.
Coeloplana astericola is found in the tropical western Pacific. In contrast to other comb jellyfish, Coeloplana astericola lives its entire life benthically.
Description: Dark red or burgundy with large, irregular patches of creamy yellow or reverse.
It moves like a flatworm and lives as an epibiont on starfish (genus Echinaster) including Echinaster luzonicus, is nocturnal and fishes in the current with its long tentacles for plankton, on which it feeds.
Some known species and their host:
Coeloplana astericola lives on starfish of the genus Echinaster
Coeloplana bannwarthi lives on the sea urchin Diadema setosum
Coeloplana lineolata lives on Sarcophyton glaucum (in the Red Sea)
Coeloplana punctata lives on the soft coral Sarcophyton sp. (in the Red Sea)
Coeloplana yulianicorum lives on Sarcophyton glaucum (in the Red Sea)
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
The scientific name for comb jellyfish (Ctenophora) refers to the comb-like plates that cover the “ribs” that give them their name.
Although comb jellyfish look like jellyfish at first glance, they are not considered true jellyfish in zoological terms, partly because they lack the cnidocytes characteristic of jellyfish.
Coeloplana astericola is found in the tropical western Pacific. In contrast to other comb jellyfish, Coeloplana astericola lives its entire life benthically.
Description: Dark red or burgundy with large, irregular patches of creamy yellow or reverse.
It moves like a flatworm and lives as an epibiont on starfish (genus Echinaster) including Echinaster luzonicus, is nocturnal and fishes in the current with its long tentacles for plankton, on which it feeds.
Some known species and their host:
Coeloplana astericola lives on starfish of the genus Echinaster
Coeloplana bannwarthi lives on the sea urchin Diadema setosum
Coeloplana lineolata lives on Sarcophyton glaucum (in the Red Sea)
Coeloplana punctata lives on the soft coral Sarcophyton sp. (in the Red Sea)
Coeloplana yulianicorum lives on Sarcophyton glaucum (in the Red Sea)
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
