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Ctenophores


Ctenophores are bioluminescent, and produce a blue-green light. (Photo by Larry Madin, WHOI)

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Ctenophores are bioluminescent, and produce a blue-green light. (Photo by Larry Madin, WHOI)

Ctenophores (pronounced teen-o-fores), also called comb jellies, are soft, transparent jelly-like animals. Some are spherical, and some have different, bell-like shapes. They have eight rows of tiny comb-like paddles that they use for slow movement. When light strikes the paddles, it is diffracted, or broken up into colors, like a rainbow. Ctenophores live throughout the ocean, from the surface to very deep. They are bioluminescent, and produce a blue-green light. Like jellyfish, ctenophores are predators, and catch smaller animals with sticky secretions, instead of stinging cells.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria

 

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