Venus girdle
(Redirected from Cestum)
| Venus girdle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Photographed in Hawaii | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Ctenophora |
| Class: | Tentaculata |
| Order: | Cestida |
| Family: | Cestidae |
| Genus: | Cestum Lesueur, 1813 |
| Species: | C. veneris |
| Binomial name | |
| Cestum veneris Lesueur, 1813 | |
The Venus girdle (Cestum veneris) is a comb jelly in the family Cestidae. It is the only member of its genus, Cestum,[1] and is also the largest of all known ctenophores.
Description
[edit]Venus girdles resemble transparent ribbons with iridescent edges. They may grow up to a metre in total length. Canals run the length of the ribbon in which bioluminescence activates when disturbed.[2]
Distribution
[edit]This species is pelagic and is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide in midwater.[2]
Ecology
[edit]These animals swim horizontally using muscular contractions as well as the beating of the comb rows. The oral edge leads. They eat small crustaceans.[2]
References
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cestum veneris.
Wikispecies has information related to Cestum veneris.
- ↑ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Cestum veneris Lesueur, 1813". marinespecies.org. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
- 1 2 3 Wrobel D. & Mills C. 2003. Has no bell, no tentacles, found in the Mediterranean Sea. Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates: a guide to the common gelatinous animals. Sea Challengers. ISBN 0-930118-23-5