Lampocteis cruentiventer has a deep red belly within a more translucent body. In the light of our devices, this color looks bright. At the depth where it lives, on the contrary, it is difficult to distinguish, because the red light practically does not get there.
This ctenophore consumes animals, some of which produce their own light. Without visual protection, a bright meal could make its predator detectable from the inside. The pigmentation of the belly masks this radiance and limits this involuntary revelation.
The animal moves thanks to the beating of rows of eyelashes and is not part of the true jellyfish. Its name evokes a bloody belly, but the phenomenon described is not a hemorrhage: it is a useful coloration. Even after capturing a prey, it is still necessary to prevent it from indicating where we are.
What we know
Ctenophore, not real jellyfish; red of the body, no presence of confirmed blood.
To go to the source
References consulted on 3 October 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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