Here we have a jelly-fish, or, more properly, a sea jelly, because they are not related to fish in any way. However they definitely are a kind of jelly, being wet, and sticky, and quiver in motion as a jelly does when moved. They are found in almost every area of the world, and in all types of waters, at all kinds of depths. There are also many different types, but most swim, though a few remain happily tethered to the sea bed for their entire lives. They swim by moving the circular bell shaped part of their body which propels them through the water, but their hanging tentacles are nothing to do with this, they are to ward off attackers and to capture food.
Strangely, they have no blood, no hearts, and no brains, but they are made of three complex layers, the outer "skin", the inner "jelly", and the central stomach.
They also have a curious lifecycle, starting with the stage we see here, which is an adult. The female adult releases their eggs into the water to be fertilised by the male adult. The eggs that are fertilised then float about until they hit something hard, and then they stick firmly to it, slowly transforming into a small bump which a lot of people mistake for a sea anemone. Then their tentacles start to grow so that they can catch and eat tiny plankton as it floats by. Now for the really odd bit, as if there is not enough food they can stop growing entirely, and their systems can remain alive but in an inanimate state for many years, until the food supply starts floating past again. I do not know how they know this has happened, but they do. Once they have enough food, they start to grow into long tall tubes constructed of separate compartments, and every now and then the top few compartments will detach and float off, quickly learning to swim, finding areas where the food is even more plentiful, and growing into the stage we see here, ready to release their eggs.
The sea jelly on our card is a drymonema, a true jellyfish, which has its own family, the Drymonematidae. There are only three species: D. Dalmatinum, D. Gorgo, and D. Larsoni, - and they are found in the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, which join together, and in the Mediterranean, which is miles apart.
The first thing I noticed on this card is that the order of the names has changed, the other sets we have featured have been "Peter, Cailler, Kohler, & Nestlé" - but here Nestlé is first. I have been in correspondence with a European collector and he has supplied a bit of background on the four names - which you can read on the page for our Card of the Day for the 29th of December 2022. That ends by saying that the cards with Peter coming first ended in 1951, so this must be later - and that could also be the reason why the numbering system has changed from Roman numerals.
Now it turns out that our card is a re-issue, because I have now been shown the exact front but with a different numbering system, "Serie LXIV" and "No.2" - and the top of that card says "Peter, Cailler, Kohler, & Nestlé".
They were also issued with just the name of Cailler`s Milk Chocolate, as Series XXXVI, in which case the "Faune Sous Marine" is in the top border and the firm name in the black cartouche within the bottom of the picture.
The cards in this set, which are the same all of the above versions, are :
- Hyalonema (Sponge) - and - Ophiomusium (Brittle Star)
- Drymonema (jelly fish) - and - Umbellula (Sea Pen)
- Stylaster (Hydro Coral) - and - Euplectella (Glass Sponge)
- Neniechthys (Snipe Eel) - and - Macropharynx (Large Pelican Eel)
- Stomias (Barbeled Dragon Fish)
- Eurypharynx (Pelican Eel)
- Cenhoseymnus (Sleeper Shark)
- Malacostens (Dragon Fish)
- Melanocetus (Black Sea Devil)
- Centrophorus (Deep Water Shark)
- Macrurus (Grenadier)
- Bathypterois (Tripod Fish)
The names in italics are not on the card, but I needed a distraction and so worked them out. Hopefully rightly, but do let me know if I erred.