February 2004 Unknown

THIS MONTH'S WINNERS:

Only one person pegged our February unknown (below). Kristen noted the green-grey coloring indicating the presence of zooxanthellae at the base of the longer tentacles in this jellyfish.

Kristen Libberton Bluff Lake Nature Center Denver Colorado

winners for our January contest were not posted, so here are the winners who identified our unknown as the spotted mud skipper, Periophalmus:

Heather Walls, Teacher Sweeny,TX Chris Jensen, Teacher St. Paul, MN Jan M. Reber Taylor University Upland, IN

Correct answer but too late for a prize:

Erol Kepkep, University of California Berkeley, CA Ms. Bobby Swain, Teacher Brooklyn, NY

Please note: Prize winners are now drawn each month from the total pool of correct answers for that month.

Thanks to all of those who submitted an entry to this contest.

Good luck this month!

Pineapple Upside-Down What? - Cassiopea sp.

Well - not really pineapple. But upside-down for sure. The upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea, lives in tropical Carribean waters where it makes its living acting somewhat like a mobile sea anemone. Like anemones and other jellyfish it has tentacles equipped with stinging cells used to capture small animals and to protect the jellyfish from predators. But unlike other jellyfish, it doesn't dangle the tentacles down, it holds them up as it sits on the bottom in an inverted position.

 

For a concise and revealing teaching video about Arthropods, get our video/DVD: Branches On the Tree of Life: Arthropods. For a rich overview of marine intertidal ecology, see our program: The Biology of Seashores.