Blue Button Jelly: The Glowing Drifter Baffling Scientists
A glowing tropical drifter called the blue button jelly (Porpita porpita) challenges easy classification: it’s a cnidarian that isn’t clearly a jellyfish or a true colony, likely a quasi-colonial organism with a central stomach, a blue float, and tentacles used for feeding, defense, and reproduction as it drifts at the ocean surface. Scientists note its structure and lifestyle remain debated, and its blue-dragon predators like Glaucus harvest its stinging cells for protection.