Color In Nature: Surprisingly Colorful Jellyfish

Jellyfish are found in every ocean, from the surface to the deep sea. Some hydrozoan jellyfish, or hydromedusae, are also found in fresh water and are less than half an inch in size. They are partially white and clear and do not sting. The scyphomedusae are the large, often colorful, jellyfish that are common in coastal zones worldwide.

Jellyfish are displayed in aquariums in many countries. Often the tank's background is blue and the animals are illuminated by side light, increasing the contrast between the animal and the background. In natural conditions, many jellies are so transparent that they are nearly invisible.

Mish Mish

pierre pouliquin

nurpax

Thomas Rutter

More Inspiration

Any of these images can be the start of your next great color palette just right click & copy the images' address then paste it into PHOTOCOPA, or save it to your computer and load it into COPASO. Share your jellyfish inspired palettes by posting them in the comments of this post.

Jellyfish in Biotechnology

In 1961, Osamu Shimomura of Princeton University extracted green fluorescent protein (GFP) and another bioluminescent protein, called aequorin from Aequorea victoria, while studying photoproteins which cause jellyfish's bioluminescence. Three decades later, Douglas Prasher, a post-doctoral scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, sequenced and cloned the gene for GFP. Martin Chalfie of Columbia University figured out how to use GFP as a fluorescent marker of genes inserted into other cells or organisms. Roger Tsien of University of California, San Diego, chemically manipulated GFP in order to get other colors of fluorescence to use as markers. In 2008, Shimomura, Chalfie, and Tsien won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work with GFP.

elrentaplats

FreeRangeLife

deep_onion

Ignati

Thomas Hawk

AceFrenzy

Lynt

Valerie Reneé

penguinchris

(Alex)

Gerald Yuvallos

mikefats

timitalia

Header Image: 'Fiori di Como' by Dale Chihuly | Photo by itsray

Have you been inspired to add some sea life to your project? Check out Creative Market for some aquatic designs.