The Venus girdle (''Cestum veneris'') is a

comb jelly Ctenophora (; ctenophore ; ) comprise a phylum of marine invertebrates, commonly known as comb jellies, that inhabit sea waters worldwide. They are notable for the groups of cilia they use for swimming (commonly referred to as "combs"), and ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Cestidae Cestidae is a family of comb jellies. It is the only family in the monotypic order Cestida. Unlike other comb jellies, the body of cestids is greatly flattened, and drawn out into a long ribbon-like shape. The two tentacles are greatly shortened, ...

. It is the only member of its genus, ''Cestum''.

Description

Venus girdles resemble transparent ribbons with iridescent edges. They may grow up to a metre in total length. Canals run the length of the ribbon in which bioluminesce activates when disturbed.Wrobel D. & Mills C. 2003. Has no bell, no tentacles,found in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. ''Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates'': a guide to the common gelatinous animals. Sea Challengers.

Distribution

This species is

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

and is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide in midwater.

Ecology

These animals swim horizontally using muscular contractions as well as the beating of the comb rows. The oral edge leads. They eat small

crustacea Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

ns.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q18518956, from2=Q2469009 Cestidae Monotypic eukaryote genera Animals described in 1813