For the first time, a predatory coral has been captured by the camera while eating a jellyfish almost equal to its size.
A: Moonjelly bloom in the Gulf of Aqaba. Scale bar = 10 cm. B. Lateral view of the mushroom coral feeding on the jellyfish. Scale bar = 5 cm. C: Close up. Scale bar = 2 cm.
Photos taken by Israeli researchers Omri Bronstein from Tel Aviv University and Gal Dishon from Bar-Ilan University during a survey on reefs reveal a stationary mushroom coral sucking in a large moon jellyfish. The photos has now been published in the journal Coral Reefs.
The moonjelly (Aurelia aurita) is known to be eaten by a wide variety of relatively large predators, including fish, sea turtles and even sea birds; however, it has never been reported as a coral’s prey.
Coral usually live of tiny plankton they capture by filtering water as well products provided by photosynthetic algae.
In March 2009, following the seasonal upwelling, the researchers recorded large numbers of the moon jellyfish at the local fringing reefs of Eilat, the Red Sea. During this event, several large (ca. 20–25 cm) solitary corals (Fungia scruposa) were observed to feed on these jellyfish.
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