#polyorchis

A jellyfish might not be what you think of when it comes to Alaskan wildlife, but spotting this little red-eyed Medusa jellyfish was one of the highlights of my time on the pacific coast. There’s something so mesmerizing about the way these animals move in the water and I feel like their gracefulness is highly underrated!

Red Eyed Jellyfish- Polyorchis pencillatus

A choir of bell jellies!! 

Based on the reaction from yesterday’s beachcombing Instagram Story, we went back to Asilomar State Beach to share our findings with Periscope and Facebook Live. 

After spending some time with various algae and moon jellies, we ventured down the beach only to find that Polyorchis bell jellies were also making their way around the Monterey Peninsula! 

Bell jellies are different from moon jellies—they’re a hydrozoan medusa, not a scyphozoan medusa. They’re crystal clear with filamentous guts and gonads, and with conspicuous red eyespots along the eye of their bell, earning them the name “red eye medusa.”