Photo Observation of the Month of June - Winged Pocket Comb Jelly

We have now completed our eighth month of the Marine Biodiversity of Southern Sydney Harbour project and I'd like to congratulate user nickatherine for her Photo Observation of the Month of June of a Winged Pocket Comb Jelly (Neis cordigera) from Parsley Bay. This observation was pulled from Nicole's countless hours of GoPro footage as an avid snorkeler at Parsley Bay over many years. Comb jellies do not often get a lot of love, but this ctenophore is particularly interesting in that it is among the largest species in the class (up to 30 cm in length), characterized by a pair of trailing gelatinous wings, and this individual exhibits a yellowish to deep orange-red pigmentation. We also dig the hints of electric blue! Notably, this is only the sixth record (ever!!) of this species from inside Sydney Harbour adding to the three previous iNaturalist observations and two specimens preserved at the Australian Museum dating back to 1923. Keep those spineless animal observations coming everyone.

This journal post was written by project leader and iNaturalist member, Dr Joseph DiBattista.