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

comb jelly Ctenophora (; : ctenophore ) is 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 they are ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Cestidae. It is the only member of its genus, ''Cestum'', and is also the largest of all known ctenophores.

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

bioluminescence Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorgani ...

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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. ''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. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

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 (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

ns.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q18518956, from2=Q2469009 Cestida Monotypic ctenophore genera Animals described in 1813