“I am your father…”. Just kidding! But it does look like Darth Vader. Bathykorus bouilloni is a Hydromedusae and is pretty hard to pronounce. Sorry, it doesn’t have a common name either. The Bathykorus was named in honor of Dr. Jean Bouillon. Bathy means “deep” and korus means “helmet”.

 

It has four primary tentacles (sometimes five) and four secondary tentacles. It has three “interraeal manubrial” pouches in each quadrant in their bodies.  It’s about two centimeters wide, is pale blue, and transparent. It’s actually hard to see visually in the water. It has a statocyst on both sides of its tentacles. It’s shaped like a bell. It inhabits the deep waters of the Arctic Ocean. It lives about 800 to 2500 meters deep. It’s found around the coasts of Greenland and North of Canada. They can live in dark tanks at 34 degrees Fahrenheit for about a week or more.

           

When the Bathykorus is foraging for food, it puts its primary tentacles above its head for locomotion. Bathykorus moves vertically by pushing water in and out of their bell and they also move by using nerve signals. They’re carnivores; they eat plankton, fish eggs, small fish, and jellyfish. They eat the food through a hole in the middle of their bell-shaped head.

           

Since they live very deep in the Arctic Ocean, their main predators are jellyfish. No other predators are known. It protects itself with its helmet shaped head.

           

Since they’re hard to see underwater we have to use special cameras to see them and they have to be brought to the surface by gentle suction. Their life cycle is almost the same as coral. They start out as larvae and travel through the water until they find a hard surface. They live for about two to six months. Once a Bathykorus reaches adulthood, it can spawn daily, if it eats enough food. They lay eggs so they can have a various amount of offspring. The Bathykorus population is growing. They were recently discovered in 2009. Since it was recently discovered, not much is known.

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Author: Alyssa N
Published: 02/2013

 

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=458859

Schuchert, P. (2012). Bathykorus bouilloni Raskoff, 2010. In: Schuchert, P. (2012) World Hydrozoa database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=458859 on 2013-02-17

(Gave me the Citation)

 

http://www.arcodiv.org/watercolumn/cnidarian/Bathykorus_bouilloni.html

Author: Kevin Raskoff & Russ Hopcroft “Artic Ocean Diversity: Bathykorus bouilloni” Published: Aug 20, 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statocyst

Author: Wikipedia “Statocyst” Published or Refined:  12 February 2013

 

http://caitbiology.wikispaces.com/Bathykorous+Bouilloni+Jellyfish

Author: Meena Ravi “Mr. Jenson’s Virtual Zoo: Bathykorus bouilloni” Published: 2013

 

http://pinterest.com/pin/131871095308818279/

Author: 2eyeswatching.wordpress.com. “Pinterest: See Right Through Me” Published: 2012

 

Photo Credit: Kevin Raskoff