Lion's mane jellyfish

Lion's mane jellyfish
In Gullmarn fjord at Sämstad, Lysekil Municipality, Sweden
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Scyphozoa
Order:	Semaeostomeae
Family:	Cyaneidae
Genus:	Cyanea
Species:	C. capillata
Binomial name
Cyanea capillata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[1]
Cyanea arctica Péron & Lesueur, 1810 Cyanea baltica Péron & Lesueur, 1810 Cyanea borealis Péron & Lesueur, 1810 Medusa capillata Linnaeus, 1758

The lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), also known as the giant jellyfish, arctic red jellyfish, or the hair jelly,^[2] is one of the largest known species of jellyfish. Its range is confined to cold, boreal waters of the Arctic, northern Atlantic, and northern Pacific Oceans. It is common in the English Channel, Irish Sea, North Sea, and in western Scandinavian waters south to Kattegat and Øresund. It may also drift into the southwestern part of the Baltic Sea (where it cannot breed due to the low salinity). Similar jellyfish – which may be the same species – are known to inhabit seas near Australia and New Zealand. The largest recorded specimen was measured off the coast of Massachusetts in 1865 and had a bell with a diameter of 210 centimetres (7 feet) and tentacles around 36.6 m (120 ft) long.^[3] Lion's mane jellyfish have been observed below 42°N latitude for some time in the larger bays of the East Coast of the United States.

The lion's mane jellyfish uses its stinging tentacles to capture, pull in, and eat prey such as fish, zooplankton, sea creatures, and smaller jellyfish.^[4]