Lion's Mane Jellyfish

Lion's mane jellyfish is a species of jellyfish that is currently the largest known in the world. Although they vary in size, their bell (the umbrella shaped body of the jellyfish) is able to to reach 6ft 7in in diameter. The smaller of these species are typically found in lower latitudes, and the larger are found more off shore. The bell of a lion's mane jellyfish is divided into 8 lobes, creating a star shape, with each lobe containing 70-150 tenticles. The larger species tentacles can be 100ft long or more. To help put this into perspective, this is longer than most Blue Whales.

The lion's mane jellyfish tenticles are long and thin with stinging cells on them. When it comes in contact with human skin it may cause redness and pain, but like most jellyfish stings it is not fatal unless there have been a large ammount of stings. In July of 2010, 150 people at Wallis Sands State Beach New hampshire were stung by broken up pieces of lion's mane jellyfish. Because of the size of these species, it is assumed this was only caused by a single jellyfish body.