#indo-pacific

Bow Down to the Crown Jellyfish

The crown jellyfish (Cephea cephea), also known as the cauliflower jellyfish, is a species of jellyfish found primarily in the open waters of the Indo-Pacific Ocean, from the surface up to a depth of 915 m (3,000 ft). They spend most of the day in deeper waters, and then rise to the surface at night to feed.

Like most jellyfish, C. cephea is a filter feeder. The bulk of their prey consists of algae, shrimp, plankton, invertebrate eggs and invertebrate larvae. Although they are venomous, they are not considered a threat to humans. Rather, it's venom is designed to deter its natural predator, sea turtles.

The crown jellyfish is named for its distinctive appearance. The 'bell', or umbrella is bright purple, up to 60 cm (23 in) across, and situated in the middle is a bulb of multiple protruding round spikes. Beneath is a cauliflower-shaped mass, often white or yellow, from which the 30-40 thin tentacles descent. In addition to its bright coloring, the cauliflower jellyfish is also notable for being bioluminescent at night and in the darker depths of its range; the purpose of this light show is unclear.

C. cephea is a broadcast spawner, meaning that females and males both release their reproductive material into the open water. The fertilized eggs hatch into microscopic larvae, which then floats through the ocean for months or even years until it encounters a rock, coral, or other sedentary object. There, it grows into a structure called a polyp that filter feeds on passing plankton for another several weeks. When it gets big enough, it undergoes strobilation, in which layers peel off to become tiny jellyfish. These baby crown jellyfish grow extremely quickly, starting at only 2-3 mm (0.07-0.11 in), but grow to to 1.7 cm (0.66 in) in only a few weeks. Once they reach their adult size, they only live for 3-6 months.

Conservation status: The crown jellyfish has not been listed by the IUCN. Due to its large population size and range, it is considered stable, and may even be expanding its range due to warming oceanic waters.

Photos

Derek Keats

Thai–Cambodian relations, strained for months, fractured after military clashes erupted along the two countries’ disputed border on Sunday.

Cambodia’s repeated use of BM-21 Grad rockets against civilian areas draws attention, but the deeper story lies in how external powers are positioning themselves around the conflict.

🔸Alliance Inversion: The old narrative—“China backs Cambodia, US backs Thailand”—is outdated and misleading.

🔸Cambodia’s Pivot: Since 2022, Cambodia has courted the US: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited in 2023, US warship port calls resumed in 2024, and new security frameworks were signed. Prime Minister Hun Manet, a West Point graduate, continues warming ties despite cross-border shelling.

Meanwhile, the US has lifted its arms embargo on Cambodia and restarted joint military exercises in a bid to draw Cambodia away from China’s sphere of influence.

🔸Thailand’s Shift: Thailand was a key ally of the United States during the Cold War, but China is the kingdom’s biggest trading partner and an increasingly important military supplier. Thailand also became a BRICS partner country earlier this year, further signaling its desire to hedge against US hegemony.

🔸Calculated Chaos: Analysts note the timing isn’t random. The US Indo-Pacific Strategy frames China as a “pacing challenge,” and a divided ASEAN serves its interests. By engaging both sides, Washington positions itself as indispensable—and destabilizing.

🔸The Base Calculus: US outreach to Cambodia targets Ream Naval Base, seen as a potential Chinese People’s Liberation Army foothold. Recent port calls to Sihanoukville (Cambodia's primary deep-water port) are thinly veiled reconnaissance.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Civilian casualties are tragic, but the conflict is a stage for great power maneuvering. The goal for US is a controlled tension, keeping the region off-balance and reliant on external powers, undermining “Asian solutions for Asian problems.”

Today's fish of the day is the Humphead Wrasse! Thank you Three for the suggestion!

The humphead wrasse, also known as the Māori wrasse, Napoleon wrasse, and Napoleon fish, scientific name Cheilinus undulatus is an endangered fish found around coral reefs. Primarily found in the indo-Pacific ocean, their range stretches from the Eastern side of Africa to as far East as the islands of Oceania. Other populations live in lagoons, estuteries, and the red sea, thriving on the reefs within. Juveniles prefer to live on sandy banks, closer to the surface, but fully mature wrasse prefer to live a bit deeper in the waters. Anywhere from 3-350ft into the depth of the water, where offshore corals thrive.

The diet of the humphead wrasse consists of mollusks, crustaceans, urchins, and smaller fish. But, the most impressive thing about their diet is the ability to eat toxic animals. More importantly, their ability to eat crown-of-thorns starfish, which are a common reason for disease in coral reef systems, as these starfish eat coral at a faster rate then they can grow in natural condition and the recent surge in population is one of the larger reasons for coral loss. The wrasse's ability to eat these is essential to their home ecosystem. Their diet can also support their large size, with females only getting as large as a meter, but males coming in as large as 2 meters (a little larger than 6 feet). Predated by sharks, but one of their main issues, and cause for endangerment is due to overfishing by humans, along with illegal aquarium trading. This combined with habitat loss is what makes it so important we watch their numbers closely.

Reproduction of the humphead wrasse is much like that of others in the wrasse family. Wrasse are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning that they can switch sexes throughout their lives, although the timing behind sex change is still unknown. All humphead wrasse are born female, and most switch to male at about 9 years old. Spawning will take place at reef edges, and eggs will rest on or near coral until hatching. The first 5-7 year of their lives juvenile, but after they will choose sex based on the population needs of their reef, and live another 30-40 years before dying.

Two species of bottlenose dolphin in Eastern Australia

These are two older illustrations I recently revamped. I really like how they turned out so I decided to make a little infographic. The distribution and ecological interaction between these two species is very interesting. In many places, two types of Common bottlenose dolphin exist:

• The coastal / inshore type, which inhabits small ranges in (very) shallow water • The oceanic / offshore type, which inhabits very large ranges in deep water

The oceanic type can appear quite close to shore in places where the seafloor quickly drops (here the coastal type is often absent), but in most areas with extended shallows the coastal type will make its home. However, once you enter the range of the Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin, the coastal type disappears. Indo-pacific bottlenoses completely fill their coastal niche, and only oceanic-type Common bottlenoses remain. This situation is very noticeable in Australia, which these illustrations are based on.

Each week I plan to feature an amazing creature, admiring God's fantastic artistry.  Hopefully it’ll brighten someone’s day to see something new and interesting if they haven’t seen it before. : )

(More fantastic photography from professional photographer/videographer Klaus Stiefel (CC BY-NC 2.0))

The Yellow-lipped Sea Krait

Scientific Name: Laticauda colubrina

Region: Throughout the Indo-Pacific

Size:  Males are about 2'10" (~86.4cm) long, while females approach double their length at about 4'8" (~142.2cm) long

Interesting Notes:  The deadly neurotoxic venom of this beautiful sea snake can cause muscle damage, hypertension, seizures, kidney failure and cyanosis...and a plethora of other potential symptoms, though the actual bite may not hurt or swell at first.... So, if you are bitten by one, please seek help immediately whether you feel different at first or not!

By Vijay Prashad