Kingdom Animalia Family Rhopalonematidae Phylum Cnidaria Order Trachymedusae | Class Hydrozoa Species V. childressi Rank Genus | |
Similar Trachymedusae, Rhopalonematidae, Benthocodon, Crossota | ||
Vampyrocrossota is a genus of jellyfish of the family Rhopalonematidae. The genus only contains one species, Vampyrocrossota childressi. Unlike many hydromedusae, these jellyfish do not have a sessile stage. Rather, they spend their entire lives in the water column as plankton. It is the only known species of jellyfish that is truly black.
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Distribution
Vampyrocrossota childressi has only been found in the Pacific Ocean off California and British Columbia. This deep-sea animal lives between 600-1475 m depth.
Etymology
This species was named after James J. Childress, a marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara who helped discover this jellyfish.
References
Vampyrocrossota Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA