Medusa -- at the California Academy of Sciences Steinhart Aquarium Throw Pillow

Chrysaora fuscescens, the Pacific Sea Nettle, gets its name from Greek mythology - Chrysaor was the son of Poseidon and Medusa. The familiar shape seen here is called the medusa stage, the adult form of the jellyfish. Life for some Sea Nettle begins when males release sperm into the water where females will catch it and fertilize her eggs. The eggs drift to the bottom and attach to hard surfaces. They develop into small polyps that lie dormant through the winter. In spring and summer life begins for other Sea Nettles when identical copies of the polyps grow from the original's side, and when those are fully formed they are released into the ocean. These polyps develop into medusa stage jellies, where they drift in the ocean catching passing zooplankton, crustaceans, small fish, and so on in their stinging tentacles.

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