---
title: "What the sources say about the Lion's Mane Jellyfish | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "42 claims from the Lion's Mane Jellyfish profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Lion's Mane Jellyfish (*Cyanea capillata*)

> 42 claims from the Lion's Mane Jellyfish profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Lion's Mane Jellyfish](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/lions-mane-jellyfish/)

## Cyanea capillata (Lions mane). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Cyanea_capillata/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Mainly fish, caught in a net of tentacles and stunned by stinging cells | feeds mainly on fish. It catches its prey by sinking slowly with its tentacles spread in a circle around it. The prey is captured in the "net" of tentacles and stunned by the nematocysts. (note: stats.diet; nematocysts are stinging cells (Oceana: 'stinging cells called nematocysts')) |
| Its bell usually spans 30 to 80 centimeters (12 to 31 inches) but can reach up to 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) across | Its bell normally ranges in diameter from 30 to 80 cm, with some individuals growing up to a maximum of 180 cm. (note: 180 cm = 1.8 m = 5.9 ft, and 30-80 cm = 12-31 in, both unit conversions of the same ADW figures; Oceana's current page independently gives the same maximum, 'up to 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) across.') |
| divided into eight lobes with a mane of tentacles, arranged in eight clusters, hanging beneath it | The bell is divided into eight obvious lobes ... it has eight groups of 150 tentacles each on the underside of its umbrella |
| It hunts by sinking slowly with its tentacles spread in a circle around it, catching prey in the net and stunning it with nematocysts | It catches its prey by sinking slowly with its tentacles spread in a circle around it. The prey is captured in the "net" of tentacles and stunned by the nematocysts. |
| Even a dead lion's mane jellyfish, or a tentacle torn loose from it, is capable of stinging | Even a dead animal or a detached tentacle is capable of stinging. |
| Still Armed After Death | Even a dead animal or a detached tentacle is capable of stinging. (note: blockquote lead) |
| Such assemblies have been seen off Norway and in the North Sea | Kilometer long assemblies can be seen off the coast of Norway and in the North Sea. |
| It sinks slowly with its tentacles spread in a circle around it, and the prey is captured in the net of tentacles and stunned by the nematocysts, its stinging cells | It catches its prey by sinking slowly with its tentacles spread in a circle around it. The prey is captured in the "net" of tentacles and stunned by the nematocysts. (note: faq 3) |
| a hunter that sinks slowly with its tentacles spread in a circle, netting and stunning its prey | It catches its prey by sinking slowly with its tentacles spread in a circle around it. The prey is captured in the "net" of tentacles and stunned by the nematocysts. (note: vibe.reason, settle #450) |

## Lion's Mane Jellyfish. Oceana Marine Life Encyclopedia.

https://oceana.org/marine-life/lions-mane-jellyfish/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| with tentacles speculated to trail up to 120 feet through Arctic and temperate seas | tentacles speculated to grow up to 36.6 meters (120 feet) long ... this jelly drifts through cold and temperate waters of the Arctic (note: tagline) |
| Cold and temperate waters of the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans, including the North Sea and Baltic Sea | this jelly drifts through cold and temperate waters of the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific, North Sea and Baltic Sea (note: stats.habitat) |
| Tentacles speculated to trail up to 36.6 meters (120 feet) | tentacles speculated to grow up to 36.6 meters (120 feet) long (note: stats.superpower, first clause) |
| Not Evaluated | its population has not been assessed (note: stats.conservationStatus; no Red List assessment exists for this species (source pack found none), so Oceana's own statement that it hasn't been assessed backs Not Evaluated) |
| drifts through cold and temperate water across the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific, including the North Sea and Baltic Sea | this jelly drifts through cold and temperate waters of the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific, North Sea and Baltic Sea |
| Those tentacles are speculated to trail up to 36.6 meters (120 feet) | tentacles speculated to grow up to 36.6 meters (120 feet) long |
| A Net of a Thousand Tentacles | Beneath its bell hangs over 1,000 tentacles, each of which contains stinging cells called nematocysts. (note: heading; the thousand threads are the tentacles) |
| the stinging cells its tentacles carry. Oceana says more than 1,000 tentacles hang from its bell | Beneath its bell hangs over 1,000 tentacles, each of which contains stinging cells called nematocysts. |
| Unusually for jellyfish, lion's manes come together in shoals, which can sometimes be a kilometer (0.6 miles) long | Unusual for jellyfish, they are known to come together in shoals, which can sometimes be a kilometer (0.6 miles) long! |
| Oceana says the species is not known to face any major threats, and its population has not been assessed | Currently, this species is not known to face any major threats. While its population has not been assessed, it is not thought to be in danger of extinction. |
| Its bell can be up to 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) across, with more than 1,000 tentacles hanging beneath it | a bell that can be up to 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) across ... Beneath its bell hangs over 1,000 tentacles (note: faq 1) |

## McClain et al. (2015). Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna. PeerJ.

https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.715

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Often called the world's longest jellyfish | Many authorities regard the Lion's Mane Jellyfish to be the longest of all jellyfish. (note: tagline; 'often called' keeps the source's 'many authorities regard') |
| many authorities rank it the longest of all jellyfish | Many authorities regard the Lion's Mane Jellyfish to be the longest of all jellyfish. (note: stats.superpower, second clause) |
| Often Called the Longest Jellyfish | Many authorities regard the Lion's Mane Jellyfish to be the longest of all jellyfish. (note: heading) |
| a figure that comes from one jellyfish a naturalist named Agassiz measured at Nahant, on the east coast of the United States, and reported in 1865 | On the east coast of the United States, a Cyanea medusa was recorded by A Agassiz in an illustrated catalog in 1865 ... "I measured myself a specimen at Nahant, the disk of which had attained a diameter of seven and a half feet, the tentacles extending to a length of more than one hundred and twenty feet." ... this 120-foot (36.6 m) measurement is repeated (note: the source gives only the initial 'A Agassiz', so the page names no first name) |
| A 2015 study of giant marine animals is skeptical of that measurement, because Agassiz gave no details of how he took it | we are skeptical of Agassiz's measurement, as no details are provided on how the measurements were taken. (note: 2015 is the reference's own publication year) |
| It also notes that genetic data suggests the jellyfish of the eastern United States are an undescribed Cyanea species, distinct from the European Cyanea capillata | molecular data from the eastern United States suggests that this species is an undescribed Cyanea sp., which is genetically distinct from C. capillata in Europe |
| The study found no other size measurements of Cyanea in the literature, yet the 120-foot figure is repeated in both the popular media and scientific literature | this 120-foot (36.6 m) measurement is repeated in both the popular media and scientific literature. No other size measurements of Cyanea were found in the literature |
| It comes from one jellyfish a naturalist named Agassiz measured at Nahant, on the east coast of the United States, and reported in 1865: a bell seven and a half feet across with tentacles more than 120 feet long | On the east coast of the United States, a Cyanea medusa was recorded by A Agassiz in an illustrated catalog in 1865 ... "I measured myself a specimen at Nahant, the disk of which had attained a diameter of seven and a half feet, the tentacles extending to a length of more than one hundred and twenty feet." (note: faq 2; 120 = 'one hundred and twenty') |
| A 2015 study of giant marine animals said it was skeptical of the record: Agassiz gave no details of how he measured it, and DNA evidence suggests the American jellyfish he saw may not even have been the same species as the European Cyanea capillata | molecular data from the eastern United States suggests that this species is an undescribed Cyanea sp., which is genetically distinct from C. capillata in Europe ... we are skeptical of Agassiz's measurement, as no details are provided on how the measurements were taken. (note: faq 2; 2015 is the reference's own year) |

## Heaslip et al. (2012). Jellyfish Support High Energy Intake of Leatherback Sea Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea): Video Evidence from Animal-Borne Cameras. PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033259

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| On the Leatherback Menu | Lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) was the dominant prey (83-100%) (note: heading) |
| Off Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, researchers attached video cameras to 19 leatherback sea turtles and found lion's mane jellyfish was their dominant prey | video from animal-borne cameras to examine how prey characteristics ... correlate with the daytime foraging behavior of leatherbacks ( n = 19) in shelf waters off Cape Breton Island, NS, Canada ... Lion's mane jellyfish ( Cyanea capillata ) was the dominant prey (83–100%) (note: NS = Nova Scotia) |
| They estimated the turtles ate approximately 261 lion's mane jellyfish per day on average, and up to 664 | Individual estimates of energy intake averaged 66,018±42,034 kJ (range 315–167,797 kJ) per day ... These values represent a consumption of 330±210.1 kg (range 2–840 kg) wet mass per day or approximately 261 lion's mane jellyfish (range 1–664) per day. (note: an estimate from energy intake, hence 'estimated') |
| capture success was 100 percent for all turtles | jellyfish captures were recorded and capture success was 100% for all turtles |
| On 4 of the 19 videos, pilot fish were seen swimming near the turtle's head or near the jellyfish it was about to eat | Commensal pilot fish (Naucrates ductor) were identified from the video for 4/19 deployments for all years and were observed swimming in the vicinity of the turtle's head and/or near lion's mane jellyfish that were approached and consumed by turtles. |
| Leatherback sea turtles do, and off Nova Scotia they made it their dominant prey | Lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) was the dominant prey (83-100%) (note: faq 4; study area is shelf waters off Cape Breton Island, NS (Nova Scotia), Canada) |
| A study using cameras on 19 leatherbacks | video from animal-borne cameras to examine how prey characteristics ... correlate with the daytime foraging behavior of leatherbacks ( n = 19) in shelf waters off Cape Breton Island, NS, Canada (note: faq 4) |
| estimated the turtles ate approximately 261 lion's mane jellyfish per day on average, and up to 664 | These values represent a consumption of 330±210.1 kg (range 2–840 kg) wet mass per day or approximately 261 lion's mane jellyfish (range 1–664) per day. (note: faq 4) |
| with a 100 percent capture success rate | jellyfish captures were recorded and capture success was 100% for all turtles (note: faq 4) |

## Wang et al. (2018). Unique Diversity of Sting-Related Toxins Based on Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analysis of the Jellyfish Cyanea capillata and Nemopilema nomurai (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa). Journal of Proteome Research.

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.8b00735

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One study identified 53 putative toxins in the venom of this species' nematocysts, including neurotoxins and pore-forming toxins | A total of 53 and 69 putative toxins were identified in C. capillata nematocyst venom (CnV) and N. nomurai nematocyst venom (NnV), respectively. These sting-related toxins from both CnV and NnV could be grouped into 10 functional categories, including proteinases, phospholipases, neurotoxins |

## Jellyfish Information. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Marine Resources Division.

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/pub/seascience/jellyfi.html

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In jellyfish generally, a single tentacle can hold hundreds or thousands of nematocysts | A single tentacle can have hundreds or thousands of nematocysts embedded in the epidermis. (note: scoped to jellyfish generally, as the source is) |
| Each one contains a hollow, coiled, barbed thread: on contact, pressure inside the cell fires it out like a small harpoon, injecting paralyzing toxins | The stinging structure consists of a hollow coiled thread with barbs along its length ... When tentacles make contact with an object, pressure within the nematocyst forces the stinging thread to rapidly uncoil ... The thousands of nematocysts act as small harpoons, firing into prey and injecting paralyzing toxins. (note: continues the 'in jellyfish generally' sentence) |
| dangerLevel: Medium | Stinging symptoms are similar to those of the moon jelly but, usually more intense. Pain is relatively mild and often described as burning rather than stinging. (note: settle #450: under the Lion's Mane (Cyanea capillata) heading. Medium is 'Can injure, but rarely seriously'; no cached source reports a serious injury) |