Jellyfish - Upside Down

Along the shallow area next to the dock in our Florida complex the water is often crystal clear and you can see what appear to be circular "flowers" on the sandy bottom. They are called upside down jellyfish. The jellyfish lay on the bottom with the tentacles pointing upward. There is algae that actually grows in the bell part of the jellyfish and it feeds off of the extra growth of the algae.

In the sea grass near the jellyfish we often see crabs and as I was reading about the jellyfish, I found that the crabs sometimes toss a jellyfish on top of their shell when they are in shallow waters as protection from predators since jellyfish usually carry a sting to other marine life.

When it's time for the jellyfish to move, it flips over and pulsates like regular jellyfish do to get from one place to another. That's what we saw and captured in the video posted here as we were kayaking one day. It's quite fascinating to watch.