Crystal-Comb Current Jelly
The jellies feed on plankton and drift calmly without long tentacles. Their eight short comb rows produce soft bands of color as they adjust to current speed. They do not swim through the metal-bearing return flow. Instead, they hold beyond its edge, then turn with the natural current once the artificial interference is removed.
Observation LevelCoastal field note
First SeenDay 01 · Day 01 · Outer-Ring Clearflow Outlet
HabitatThe crystal-coral breakwater, seagrass arcades, shallow return flows, and old Tide Vein outside Coral Ark Harbor
VariantsTransparent juveniles, palm-length oval adults, and small groups of four drifting with the current
Habitat and Mechanism
The crystal-coral breakwater, seagrass arcades, shallow return flows, and old Tide Vein outside Coral Ark Harbor。Crystal corals remove metal and radioactive particles from seawater, while seagrass roots retain the carbonate sand supplied by grazing reef fish. Flexible reef pores and deeper channels keep the hard breakwater passable to larvae, fish, and large migrants. Excessive cutting by automated reef-harvesting arms released crystal fragments and metal-bearing runoff. The fragments blocked the old Tide Vein, and the return flow pushed planktonic larvae away from the seagrass arcade. Crystal-Comb Current Jellies stopped outside that runoff. Changes in their eight ciliary rows made the particle concentration and direction of the disrupted flow visible.
Enter Tide-Vein Crystal-Reef Restoration Corridor ↗Behavior and Ecological Role
The jellies feed on plankton and drift calmly without long tentacles. Their eight short comb rows produce soft bands of color as they adjust to current speed. They do not swim through the metal-bearing return flow. Instead, they hold beyond its edge, then turn with the natural current once the artificial interference is removed.
Their ciliary rhythm acts as a passive reading of current and suspended particles. The group's position outside the reef-harvest runoff identifies the polluted flow boundary. Its return toward the old passage points to the entrance blocked by loose crystal fragments.
Form and Identification
Transparent juveniles, palm-length oval adults, and small groups of four drifting with the current
- Biologically plausible oval ctenophore anatomy with no long tentacles
- Transparent body and eight short iridescent ciliary rows
- Palm-length adults, transparent juveniles, and small groups of four
- Soft ribbon-like color generated by comb-row movement rather than internal lighting
- Calm drifting and current-following behavior without aggression
Observation Rule
Fang and K do not touch, net, tag, lure, chase, illuminate, or redirect the jellies. Fang uses non-invasive sensing and passive samples from the water. K keeps active weapons stowed, disables only the human beacon and reef-harvest interference, and preserves a retreat line outside the animals' route. The jellies choose whether to re-enter the Tide Vein.
At Outer-Ring Clearflow Outlet, the jellies remained outside the discharge from reef harvesting. Fang used non-invasive sensors to separate ciliary rhythm into current speed, particle load, and direction. K stayed on the outer observation line, shut down the active beacon, and marked load-bearing points, return flow, and retreat routes with every active weapon stowed.