Pteropods, Salps, Jellies, Ctenophores

Pegea confoederata
Pegea confoederata

Cyclosalpa affinis
Cyclosalpa affinis

Pegea confoederata and diver

Zooplankton
in the
Open Ocean

All images copyright © Mike Johnson. All rights reserved.

Chrysaora fuscescens
Chrysaora fuscescens

Pteropod Corolla spectablis
Corolla spectablis

Pyrosoma tuberculata

Pteropods are shell-less snails that propel themselves through the water column by beating wing-like structures. This specimen is approximately 8cm in diameter.

Pyrosoma tuberculata

Cyclosalpa affinis and commensal

Pyrosoma tuberculata and commensal


Beroe cucumis

^ Look closer at this colony of salps.

Pyrosoma tuberculata
[ another view ]

Resembling a giant bacterium, this Beroe is a member of a family of specialized zooplankton called ctenophores. Take a closer look...

Purple striped jelly

Purple stripe jelly
Pelagia colorata


Butterfish in Pelagia colorata

man-of-war
Man-of-war
Physalia physilis

While panoceanic, the man-of-war is an unncommon sight in the temperate northeastern Pacific.

   
MORE ZOOPLANKTON return to index

* Gottshall, D.W. 1994. Guide to Marine Invertebrates Alaska to Baja California. Sea Challengers, Monterey CA.
**Wrobel, D., and Mills, C. 1998. Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates A Guide to the Common Gelatinous Animals. Sea Challengers and Monterey Bay Aquarium. Monterey CA.