Jellyfish (Marine Life by Papo)

In 2025 Papo added a jellyfish to their Marine Life line. They did not advertise it as the species level, but I am identifying it as the mauve stinger, Pelagia noctiluca. To my knowledge there have been no figures specifically marketed as P. noctiluca except for Safari Ltd.’s Good Luck Mini, however I suspect their larger Wild Safari Sealife and Incredible Creatures jellyfish (in all their colors) are also based on this species. My justification of P. noctiluca is based on the color, the simple shape of the bell, and the form of the four undulating oral arms. There are only six tentacles, however, while the real P. noctiluca has eight. Also, it is a common species in the waters around France, and Papo tends to favor local fauna.

Pelagia noctiluca occurs in the North Atlantic, south to the Gulf of Mexico in the west and Mediterranean Sea in the east. It is a pelagic species, occurring at depths of 0-1,600 meters. It is also bioluminescent. The mauve stinger is considered one of the most important stinging jellyfish in its range, especially in the Mediterranean. It not only has cnidocytes (stinging cells) on its tentacles and oral arms, but also its bell. People who get stung by P. noctiluca are at risk of severe allergic reactions if later stung by Portuguese man-o’-war or sea nettle jellyfish. Common and widespread, it has not yet been evaluated by the IUCN.

Today’s model by Papo stands about 6.0 cm when balancing on its tentacles and oral arms (something it does with relative ease, see the first pic above). The bell is approximately 2.3 cm in diameter for a scale of 1:1.3-1:5.2.

Being a jellyfish it has a rather simple design. However, there is fine texture over the bell and the dorsal portion of the oral arms. The tentacles are a bit thick, but that was probably necessary to avoid breakage in a figure of this sizes. The bell is hard, and while the oral arms and tentacles are pliable, they are not a soft rubber.

The color is also simple; predominately pink with white for the tentacles and ventral portion of the oral arms.

The Papo 2025 jellyfish allows for an opportunity to get a smaller version of the mauve stinger, as the models by Safari Ltd. (except for the GLM) are all quite large. Because of it’s smaller size, it doesn’t quite have the detail and proportions of the Safari figures, however. Still, being a smaller size it takes up less shelf space and may display better with other standard-sized marine life, even if not to scale.