Recent searches
Search options
The Æeolian #jellyfish, is a largely unknown & likely #imaginary creature. Unlike other jellies, it floats in the upper ocean of air, blanketing our planet.
The Aeolian jellyfish (Æolia noctiluca) looks like its sea-borne cousin Pelagia noctiluca (Pelagia = sea, nocti = night & luca=light). Aeolian come from the Greek Æolus, keeper of the winds, & refers to its air-borne nature. There are some important differences between them …
1/n
While both have radial symmetry, Pelagia noctiluca has 1 body cavity, called the gastrovascular cavity. In contrast, the Aeolian jellyfish has both an outer gastrovascular cavity & an inner air bladder like a swim bladder in some fish. Essentially an impermeable, gas balloon, which can expand & contract to allow the jelly to rise or fall in the air column by adjusting its shape so pressure in the air bladder matches ambient pressure. The Aeolian jellyfish also has a special adaptation to…
2/n
evade predators like birds; it can rapidly metabolize food to produce a flash of heat in the gastrovascular cavity wall. This allows the trapped air balloon to be heated, rapidly expand & rise. To move laterally, the jellyfish employs its tentacles to ride the winds.
As you might expect the #bioluminescent Aeolian jellyfish is noctunal. During the day it passively rises as it warms in the sun, spending the heat of the day in the stratosphere, out of reach of predators.
3/n
As temperature falls at sunset, so does the jelly, disguised as a twinkling star to insects. Hence, while lulled to complacency by this lovely light display, it's death from above for these unsuspecting prey.
Like many jellyfish the it begins its life as a bottom-dwelling polyp - where "bottom" is the ocean-air interface rather than seafloor. They have been found on certain shallow seamounts in the Pacific.
4/n
Thus the polyps rest with their holdfast on these plateau-like features, bathed in seawater, while their "mouths" reach out into the air. When they metamorphose into the medusa form, the jellies float up into the sky.
#printmaking #linocut #washi #fantasy #jelly
5/5