MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) | Hitchhiker sea spider on a deep-sea jelly @MBARIvideo | Uploaded March 2023 | Updated October 2024, 4 hours ago.
POV: You live in the ocean and never touch the floor, but one day you find a spider on your head (ahem, bell). 🙃⁠
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MBARI’s ROV Doc Ricketts spotted this red paper lantern jelly, Pandea rubra, with an unidentified sea spider delicately balancing itself on the jelly’s bell. We’re not sure why sea spiders might ride along on midwater jellies, but we have learned that deep-sea jellies offer important shelter for many small invertebrates.

See more deep-sea hitchhikers in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Deep Sea: Friend, foe, or frenemy? youtu.be/VhG7LNUcvYc