Pink Comb Jelly

Scientific Name

Beroe ovata

Distribution

The pink comb jelly is present in lower Chesapeake Bay in late summer and fall.

The pink comb jelly Beroe ovata.
Sting

Ctenophores like the pink comb jelly do not sting. Instead, their tentacles possess special adhesive cells called colloblasts that release a sticky, mucus-like substance to trap prey.

Size & Shape

Adult comb jellies are about the size of a golf ball, with a barrel-shaped body. Unlike its cousin the sea walnut, the body of the pink comb jelly lacks lobes.

Color

As the common name implies, the pink comb jelly is pinkish or brownish. The radiating "combs" that give the animal its name are made up of numerous microscopic cilia that produce a rainbow-like iridescence when they beat to and fro.

Food & Diet

Beroe feeds primarily on the other common ctenophore in the Bay, the sea walnut.

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