Black Sea Nettle (Chrysaora achlyos)

The black sea nettle (Chrysaora achlyos), sometimes informally known as the Black jellyfish or Sarlacc Jellyfish, is a species of jellyfish that can be found in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. This species is a relatively new species which they are only described first time in 1997 from Eastern Pacific. Its range is thought to be from Monterey Bay in the north, down to southern Baja California and Mexico, though there are reports of sightings as far north as British Columbia. They have tint of purple colour when they are small. Then their bells became creamy pink colour and start to develop bright red colouration on their oral arms after they grew to approx 5cm. In the wild, the adult black sea nettles are found dark red colour throughout their whole body.

The healthy polyps can spread fast and produce ephyrae quickly. The ephyrae born very small, with relatively small capability of catching baby brine shrimp. Feeding rotifers to ephyrae is recommended. They grow long tentacles so keeping in a crowded tank is not recommended. They enjoy stronger water flow. Their bells can be flattened when they are in weak and slow flow.