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Jellyfish may be the most common ocean animal, but are hard to catch in nets. Why?

What do Jellyfish eat?

What eats jellyfish?

Do they fly?

Do Jellyfish Hatch from Eggs?

Can the babies sting you?

Do Jellies communicate?

Can they breathe above water?

Do they have a brain?

How do they move?

What is the largest jellyfish?

What is the smallest?

What are the parts of a Jellyfishes body?

What is the Jelly's life cycle?

Where do they live?

How old do jellyfish get?

Which Jellyfish is most Deadly to people?

How do they sting people?

Want to see a Maneating Jellyfish?

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The sting of some "jellies," such as this sea nettle (left), can be deadly. Others are harmless to humans, but may cause pain.

 Here is a jellyfish out of water! It looks like blob of jello when washed up on the beach.Jellyfish breathe over the entire surface of their bodies. Just as we breathe air, they breathe water. We cannot breathe water, and they cannot breathe air!  

 Out of water Jellies are a gooey mess. So they could not fly through the air, but in the water jellies are graceful. Some people might say that jellies fly through the water! But even that would be wrong since Jellies rely on the current and tides to carry them, they do not fly at all!

Biggest

This is an Arctic Lion's Mane Jelly It is the largest of the Jellies! It can be 8 feet across its bell, and its tentacles can reach 200 feet long.

 One of the smallest is also one of the most deadly. The Irukandji is only about 1 1/2 inches across yet it is very poisonous. It is very dangerous because it is transparent (nearly invisible). Sometimes swimmers do not realize that they have been stung until the get very sick!

Most Deadly is the Australian Box Jellyfish which can kill a human in 5 minutes!

Photo by Angelina

The Sea Wasp (also called the Australian Box Jellyfish) in the ocean off Australia is one of the deadliest animals on earth. It is the Australian Box Jelly and one box jelly has enough venom to kill 60 people! It is called a box jelly because its bell is shaped like a box. The one that is held by the man is found in the Caribbean sea. It is a smaller and less deadly than its Australian cousin. It is abaout 2 x 3 inch "cube." Its four tentacles are about 12 inches long, one attached to the four bottom corners of its body. The man can safely hold the bell of the jelly. Only the tentacles that have the poison!

Jellyfish are not fish.

A jelly has no head, brain, heart, eyes, nor ears. It has no bones, either. It is 95% water! Scientists estimate there may be 2,000 species (kinds) of jellyfish, but we are only familiar with 200. They have been drifting through the world's oceans for more than 650 million years.

Jellyfish live where in the oceans. They drift with the currents. They live in groups because the currents keep them together. Some live very deep in the ocean and some, like the up-side-down jelly live nearer the surface. Its tentacles reach up into the sea. It looks like a sea anemone. The up-side-down jelly has algae growing in its tenticles so it must live in shallow water. Algae needs sunlight to grow so it must live near the surface. Jellys live in icy polar seas and warm tropical water.

To capture food, jellies have a net of tentacles that contain poisonous, stinging cells called nematocysts. They use their tentacles like harpoons. When you brush up against them they shoot them out and inject the poison . When the tentacles brush against prey (or,say, a person's leg), thousands of tiny stinging cells explode, launching barbed stingers and poison into the victim. Here is a picture showing the little threads coiled up and ready to unfurl and sting.

Food

Jellyfish are carnivorous (eat meat).They eat mostly zooplankton, smaller fish and sometimes other jellyfish. Bigger jellies eat large crustaceans (like shrimp) and other sea animals.

Jellyfish are eaten mostly by spadefish, sunfish, and loggerhead turtles. People in China and Japan like to eat the mushroom jellyfish. Both fresh and pickled mushroom jellyfish are eaten. Here is a crab eating a jellyfish. The crab is a crustacean - like the shrimp!

Ha! Ha! Fooled you. This is a man eating jellyfish --- hmmm.

 Many jellyfish live only a year or less, but some like that giant antarctic live 5-10years!.

Moving

Some jellyfish can tigthen their bell and then make it bigger. This pulsating lets them propel (push) themselves upward through the water. It is similar to letting a filled balloon empty itself. It propels itself! Mostly they must depend on the ocean currents and tides to move them about. Currents are like rivers of water that flow through the ocean. Click here and see pictures of a jellyfish "swimming".

If I only had a brain.

Jellyfish do not have a brain like us. They have a complex network of nerves which respond to things, but they cannot think about things.

Communication

Jellyfish do not communicate like we do, remember they do not have a brain or language! BUT Some can flash colorful lights. Scientists think these may be used to disguise them or even to attract prey. Jellyfish can signal each other. One jellyfish releases chemicals when it is about to breed. Other jellyfish then are stimulated to spawn at the same time, so that the most jellyfish are born.

Baby Jellyfish

Different jellyfish reproduce (have babies) in different ways. The moon jellyfish, which is common along U.S. beaches, begins life as an egg in its mother's mouth. The male jellyfish releases sperm into the water and it fertilizes the egg. The female lets the larvae go and they attach to something hard. They are now polyps – and look more like sea anemones than jellyfish. Finally these polyps develop tentacles and let go of the bottom to become adult (medusa.) jellyfish.

Can a baby jellyfish sting you?

When baby jellyfish are first born they do not look much like jellyfish. Look at the picture below. When the baby jellyfish reaches the Medusa stage it uses its stingers to catch food! So the answer is no. Only as the baby nears adulthood can it sting you.