How/Why do jellyfish change colors?

I Wonder Project:

How/Why do Jellyfish change colors?

White Spotted Jellyfish

Scientists

Scientists helped the world understand jellyfish better by researching them and finding out how they live. Without them, we would not know all the different types, how they change colors, when they change,or why they change, and we might not even know that they exist.

Jellyfish Colors

Jellyfish come in many different colors. Some are purple, while others are green. There are also jellyfish that are clear, or translucent, so you can shine a light, and they will change colors as the light does.

Jellyfish dont change colors whenever they want to. Most will change as they get older.

The colors of a jellyfish depend either on its own pigments, or the pigments of the micro-organism living inside of it. The most common micro-organism that lives inside a jellyfish is Zooxanthellae.(no author <http://www.jellyfishart.com/kb_results.asp?ID=56>paragraph 3 )

Sea Nettle Jellyfish

Mangrove Jellyfish

Sand Jellyfish

• Mostly found in the Caribbean and other tropical waters

• They are also called the Upside-down jellyfish

• This jellyfish is usually in shallow waters because it lives in a symbiotic relationship with a unicellular algea. The algea is zooxanthellae. So it needs sunlight, which is why it stays in shallow waters and is always upside-down.

• The Mangrove jellyfish is sometimes blue and sometimes brown and white, and might look like a sea anemone at first.

• Zooxanthellae is the micro-organism living inside of this jellyfish. That's why its color is blue. ( no author<http://www.jellyfishfacts.net/mangrove-jellyfish.html>para 1-4)

Lagoon Jellyfish

Moon Jellyfish

Moon Jellies

Blue Bottle/Blue Bubble Jellyfish

• Moon Jellyfish are usually transluecent and blue.
• Some rare ones are pink
• As Moon Jellyfish grow older the pink ones turn a darker shade and the blue ones turn purple.
• They also have a four-leaf clover pattern on their belly
• You can have a moon jelly as a pet, and if you get one you can also buy an LED light so you can change your jellyfish's color. (no author <http://www.jellyfishart.com/kb_results.asp?ID=56>para 4)

Moon Jellies with LED light

Purple Jellyfish

• It is also called the purple-striped jellyfish

• You can only find this type of jellyfish on the west coast. Specifically on the coast of California.

• When the jellyfish are very young, the bell is pink and it has less dramatic stripes on it.
• When it is still young, its tentacles are a dark maroon color.
• As they get older the tentacles become very clear and the bell becomes a more dramatic purple.( no author <http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/MarineInvertebrateZoology/Pelagianoctiluca.html>para 1,4,&5)

Follow Up Question:

• Do All Jellyfish Change Colors or are there Some That Stay the Same?