Let’s meet this Octonauts friend who could literally light up your world. Here’s Comb Jelly and its real-life counterpart!

Comb Jelly is a character in Octonauts who appeared in The Giant Jelly and The Mariana Trench Adventure episodes. It is a male character who lives in the water and glows in dark places. We may be surprised by its size, because it’s pretty huge. In the series, Comb Jelly is mainly friends with the medical officer Peso Penguin.

The Comb Jelly can be seen as a pink and see-through character in Octonauts. Because of its large size, it accidentally trapped Peso inside its belly. What’s more impressive is that in real life, Comb Jellies do exist!

Image Source: FutureOfTheOcean WordPress

According to the Smithsonian, comb jellies are often compared to jellyfishes. They are gelatinous animals that exist around the world. They tend to drift through the ocean’s water column with their paddling combs that generate rainbow-like colors. However, jellyfishes and comb jellies are not close relatives. While jellyfishes are under the phylum Cnidaria, comb jellies are under the phylum Ctenophora. In addition, they have entirely different life histories, too!

If you’re curious where comb jellies got their name, it is because of their unique feature. They have plates of fused giant cilia, called “combs,” which run in eight rows all over their bodies. The combs help them move through the water. These fabulous combs also often produce the rainbow effect, which makes them beautiful to look at.

In Octonauts, Comb Jelly was seen as a tremendous character that could fit a penguin in his belly. In real life, comb jellies are only around 4 inches in size or the same length as a popsicle stick. They have barrel-shaped bodies, and there are also specific comb jellies that appear pink, just like Comb Jelly, but they can be seen in different colors, depending on their species and the light they scatter!

In the series, Comb Jelly became friends with the Octonauts members. This demeanor is the same in real life as, unlike jellyfishes, comb jellies do not sting. However, they have special adhesive cells called colloblasts that release sticky, mucus-like substances that trap their prey. They feed on other ctenophores, such as the sea walnut. As studied by VIMS, pink comb jellies, in particular, can be seen in lower Chesapeake Bay in the late summer and fall. However, some also say it could live in shallow coastal saltwater bodies, bays, or polluted, brackish waters. They indeed are not picky about the aquatic environment they live in.