Sea nettle
- Scientific name
- Chrysaora kynthia
- Phylum
- Cnidaria
- Class
- Scyphozoa
- Sting-o-meter
- 3/5
These spectacular sea jellies are named ‘nettles’ due to their potent sting, While painful, the sting of Chrysaora is not usually dangerous to humans.
Chrysaora is widely distributed, with a few species being found in Australian waters. They mostly drift passively but can actively swim against ocean currents using jet propulsion and occasionally pick up tiny hitchhiking crab larvae.
Credit, Denis Riek.
