3 euro – Mauve Stinger

As fleeting as a dream, the mauve stinger is a transparent, delicate creature that moves through the water with a gentle pumping motion, as if in slow motion. But as shown on the spectacular sixth coin in the Luminous Marine Life series, the jellyfish also knows how to put on a light show. The entire body of the mauve stinger can glow. When touched with a hard object its bell and tentacles produce a light that lasts a few minutes. This bioluminescence is generated when a luminescent molecule is ‘switched on’ by an enzyme. The mucous covering the jellyfish also begins to glow and, if it sticks to another object, can continue to glow there for a short time. All 12 of the magical sea creatures in the Luminous Marine Life series are shown in silhouette on the coin’s obverse. Air bubbles up between them and a tail fin disappears beneath the waves to the right. On the coin’s reverse, a wide band, reminiscent of an old-fashioned porthole frames an aquatic scene that features a mauve stinger in the centre. An island with palm trees can be seen above the surface of the water. When the coin is illuminated with ultraviolet light, the jellyfish glows and changes colour, so that the light brown of its bell turns blue or red, as does the pinkish purple of its tentacles and oral arms.