12 February 2012

Oceanographic Museum - Aliens and a very old Eel


Have the aliens finally landed in Monaco!

The Moon jellyfish is recognised by its fringed umbrella and reproductive organs in the shape of a four-leafed clover. It stings, but only slightly, and can grow to 40 centimetres. It's found on the Riviera coastline along with the more common Pelagia jellyfish.

If you click on the link, you can see a photo I took of thousands of these jellyfish, dead and washed up on the rocks at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin last June. The stink was awful.

The smaller photo - not as sharp as I'd have liked - but I want to show you the museum's oldest inhabitant, a brown moray eel who was caught off Antibes in 1968 when he was already adult size. Its precise age is unknown but he's at least 44 years old. Incredible, don't you think?

8 comments:

Pat said...

I first saw the thumbnails on the portal and I must really be in a winter mode with all our snow and ice, since I thought they were patterns in the ice! Beautiful creatures, those jellyfish. I visited the museum in 1969; maybe I even glimpsed the eel as a young 'man'.

Gunn said...

Quite unique and ARTY images!:)
- Enjoy your SUNDAY!

Leif Hagen said...

Great, BLUE colors, Jilly! Those jelly fish really float around in the water!

Kate said...

Interesting animals and such a true, blue color!

Unknown said...

I just love this series. Gorgeous shots!

Bob Crowe said...

These are brilliant. I like the last one the best. It's hallucinatory.

There is a little call out to you on my Monday post.

Hilda said...

I adore photos of jellyfish, and these are gorgeous, Jilly!

And that's an impressively venerable moray. I didn't realize they lived that long.

Musée oceanographique said...

Hi,

Many thanks for your nice pictures and your comments, you're right some of our fishes are quite aliens !
;)

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