Weird and Wonderful: The bloody-belly comb jelly, a deep-sea fireball

This sparkling, deep-sea fireball is the comb jelly Lampocteis cruentiventer. MBARI scientists helped to describe this genus and species using ROV video footage. The name means “brilliant comb jelly with a blood-red belly.” All comb jellies, or ctenophores, have eight rows of hair-like cilia, called ctenes, used for swimming and eating. White light from the ROV is diffracted by these beating comb rows producing a rainbow display. Extra-broad, highly iridescent ctene plates make this animal especially bright. Lampocteis can vary from transparent to amber to deep red, but its belly is always blood-red to mask the glow of any bioluminescent prey items it eats. Red wavelengths are absorbed quickly in the ocean, so red coloration helps deep-sea animals camouflage in the depths where they appear black and disappear into the darkness. Comb jellies are a significant component of the midwater food web. Learn more about this mesmerizing deep-sea jelly: Common name: Bloody-belly comb jelly Scientific name: Lampocteis cruentiventer Reported depth range: 300 meters–1,012 meters (980–3,320 feet) Size: to 16 centimeters (6 inches) Editor: Ted Blanco Writer: Kyra Schlining Production team: Kyra Schlining, Susan von Thun, Nancy Jacobsen Stout Publication: Harbison, G. Richard, Matsumoto, George I., Robison, Bruce H., (2001). Lampocteis cruentiventer gen. nov., sp. nov.: A new mesopelagic lobate ctenophore, representing the type of a new family (Class Tentaculata, Order Lobata, Family Lampoctenidae, fam. nov.). Bulletin of Marine Science, 68: 299-311. Follow MBARI on social media: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: Tumblr: LinkdIn: