Upsidedown Jellyfish
Catostylus mosaicus
Hippocampus Barbouri    

Identification: These jellies look like a greenish-brown flower. That greenish-brown color is caused by symbiotic algae that live inside the jelly’s tissues. Lying upside-down, the jelly exposes its algae to the sun, allowing them to photosynthesize. With plenty of sunlight, the jelly lives off food the algae produce and can grow to the size of pie plates.

Behavior: When very young, this curious jelly flips upside down and pulses to the seafloor. It uses its bell much like a suction cup to stick to the seafloor, where it prefers to spend most of its time. Turned upside-down, with stubby oral-arms pointed toward the sun. Upside-down jellies are more vulnerable than jelly species that live in the open ocean or the deep sea. They live in mangrove forests and shallow lagoons along tropical coasts

Maximum Length: up to 1 foot (30 cm) wide and 2 inches (51 mm) high 

Origin: tropical waters in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean, Southern Florida and Hawaii 

Minimum tank size: 30 Gallon

Feeding and diet: Zooplankton, food produced by algae.

Cautions: Not to be housed in a tank with very strong current. All power head and filter intakes should be covered with sponge or pre-filter so as not to suck the jellyfish into it. 

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