Revision 1

The Jelly Ring is a passive, ring-shaped organism in Subnautica 2 that lives on the heat and chemical flux of hydrothermal vents. Its databank entry, generated under the name Thermodont sufganiyah (the heat-eating jelly donut), is quick to point out that it is not actually a jelly, just full of jelly: it is a colony of tiny clones called zooids working as one structure.

Overview

Appearance and Behavior

The ring-shaped body is wrapped in a thick jelly-like mucus layer studded with rings of orange zooids. Short stalks tipped with orange flower-like structures project outward, and thin tendrils hang beneath. A Jelly Ring settles around a vent like a wheel on an axle and feeds there for a time; when a vent dies, the colony swims to a new one. The zooids communicate with light rather than nerves, so the whole ring glows and reacts visibly to stimuli.

Databank Notes

The flower-like structures are mucus-lined pumps that draw in vent flux and can reverse into swimming thrusters. The inner jelly circulates hot, mineral-rich water and digests it into a latex-like sap that plugs wounds in the ring and carries sugars, starches, oils, and gums. Strangest of all, living rings have been observed traveling to deep sites and expelling their jelly for no apparent individual benefit, a behavior the entry cannot fully explain. The assessment suggests the ring could be tapped as a source of complex chemistry or edible fats, and warns it is likely flammable in air.

Related Pages

• Creatures

• Surge Jelly

• BFJ