Jellyfish always much greater than the Lion's Mane, whose bell diameter can reach . The rarely encountered deep-sea jellyfish "Stygiomedusa gigantea" is another candidate for "largest jellyfish", with its thick, massive bell up to wide, and four thick, "strap-like" oral arms extending up to in length, very different from the typical fine, threadlike tentacles that rim the umbrella of more-typical-looking jellyfish, including the Lion's Mane. Jellyfish have a complex life cycle which includes both sexual and asexual phases, with the medusa being the sexual stage in most instances. Sperm fertilize eggs, which develop into larval planulae, become polyps, bud into ephyrae
Cyanea (jellyfish) Cyanea (jellyfish) Cyanea is a cosmopolitan genus of stinging jellyfish, primarily found in northern waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The same genus name has been given to a genus of plants of the Hawaiian lobelioids, an example of a "parahomonym" (same name, different kingdom). The taxonomy of "Cyanea" species is not fully agreed upon. Some zoologists have suggested that all species within the genus should be treated as one. However, in the North Sea at least, the lion's mane jellyfish and the blue jellyfish appear as distinct species. "Cyanea" may be a species complex of recently diverged species.