Meet our Fried Egg Jellyfish!

It may look a little bit like a Haribo sweet gone rogue, but this is actually our phacellophora camtschatica, or otherwise known as a Fried Egg Jellyfish! This special breed of jellyfish is renowned for its likeness to the egg, but these aren’t for eating - instead they’re a part of the extensive breeding programme that we have here at SEA LIFE London.

With over 20 years of experience under his belt, SEA LIFE London’s curator, Xoan Dominguez, loves all things jelly. Prior to joining us here in London, he directed an incredible jellyfish project at Oceanogràfic of Valencia, which saw twenty species from all the seas and oceans of the world come together under one roof. Upon us with our newly opened Ocean Invaders exhibit, he brought over 25 fried egg jelly fish which were growing behind the scenes until December 2017 when they joined the rest of our incredible collection of Jellyfish under the mesmerising lights of the display!

These funny looking jellies are found all around the Mediterranean Sea, and can grow up to 35cm. Because of their weaker stings, it’s actually been known for crabs and other amphipods to be hitching a ride on the top of their bells, and juvenile mackerel often use it as a floating safe house away from predators as it moves around! 

Our close relationship with Valencia means that we have an ever growing and soon over-flowing bucket of knowledge to help us breed our jellyfish. Together we plan to continue to grow our collection and will continue to introduce new breeds of jellyfish for our guests to learn about. Come along to Ocean Invaders here at SEA LIFE London to check these little guys out and immerse yourself in the stinging world of jellyfish.