Pink+Comb+Jelly!

**Scientific Name:** // Pleurobrachia pileus //
 * Common Name: ﻿Pink Comb Jelly **
 * Phylum: Ctenophora **
 * [[image:565.jpg width="229" height="292" align="right"]] **

**Location:** Otago shelf, New Zealand

**Size:** Grows to about 4.5 inches. Comb jellies have transparent, jelly-like bodies with bright, iridescent bands of color. The bands are made up of tiny hairs called combs, which divide the body into eight symmetrical areas.


 * Habitat: **Open ocean and near shore, from the surface waters to depths of 1,640 ft (500 m).


 * Living Requirements: **Comb jellies swim using their combs, which beat rhythmically to push the animal forward. When water conditions are rough, comb jellies will stay in deeper waters.
 * Life Cycle: **Comb jellies are voracious feeders of planktonic organisms and small, spiny fish. They have been known to comsume almost 500 copepods per hour! Comb jellies eat by continuously pumping water into the cavity of their rounded bodies.
 * Facts: **
 * The sticky yellow particles indicate the gut, and have also adhered to the combs.
 * The comb jelly's most striking physical characteristic is its system of eight rows of combs.
 * Comb jellies occur throughout the world's oceans in both pelagic and nearshore habitats, in both tropical and Arctic waters.
 * Zookeeper's Sources: **
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