Granrojo
Encyclopedia
Tiburonia granrojo, is a jellyfish
of the family
Ulmaridae
discovered in 2003, and the only member of its genus yet identified. It was discovered by MBARI(Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), and the lead marine biologist on the crew was Dr. George I. Matsumoto, Ph.D. Its genus name is Tiburonia because the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) the crew were using was called Tiburon, meaning "shark" in Spanish. Its species name was originally to be called "Big Ugly", but an unknown party denied it and renamed it granrojo, meaning "big red" in Spanish. It is one of the largest sea jellies and unusual in a number of ways. Tiburonia granrojo live at ocean depths of between 600 and 1500 metres and have been found across the Pacific Ocean
in the Sea of Cortez, Monterey Bay
, Hawaii
and Japan
. They can grow up to 75cm in diameter , according to the California Academy of Sciences, and have thick fleshy oral arms in place of the long tentacles found in most jellies. The entire jellyfish is deep red in color.
To date, only 23 members of the species have been found and only one, a small specimen (under 15 cm) has been retrieved for further study. Several high resolution videos of granrojo have been taken by remote controlled submarines. Its discovery was announced by Dr. Matsumoto and colleagues in Marine Biology in 2003.
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Ulmaridae
Ulmaridae
Ulmaridae is a family of jellyfish.-Genera:*Aurelia *Aurosa*Deepstaria*Diplulmaris*Discomedusa*Floresca*Parumbrosa*Phacellophora - Phacellophora camtschatica*Poralia...
discovered in 2003, and the only member of its genus yet identified. It was discovered by MBARI(Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), and the lead marine biologist on the crew was Dr. George I. Matsumoto, Ph.D. Its genus name is Tiburonia because the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) the crew were using was called Tiburon, meaning "shark" in Spanish. Its species name was originally to be called "Big Ugly", but an unknown party denied it and renamed it granrojo, meaning "big red" in Spanish. It is one of the largest sea jellies and unusual in a number of ways. Tiburonia granrojo live at ocean depths of between 600 and 1500 metres and have been found across the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in the Sea of Cortez, Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. They can grow up to 75cm in diameter , according to the California Academy of Sciences, and have thick fleshy oral arms in place of the long tentacles found in most jellies. The entire jellyfish is deep red in color.
To date, only 23 members of the species have been found and only one, a small specimen (under 15 cm) has been retrieved for further study. Several high resolution videos of granrojo have been taken by remote controlled submarines. Its discovery was announced by Dr. Matsumoto and colleagues in Marine Biology in 2003.