Jellyfish
All you need to know about your favorite invertebrate, the Jellyfish!
Pics
Moon Jelly
In this species, there is a fringe of tentacles around the bell, four oral arms near the center of the bell, and 4 petal-shaped reproductive organs (gonads) which may be orange, red or pink. This species can have a bell that grows up to 15 inches in diameter." source
Lion's Mane Jellyfish
Lion's mane jellyfish have a pink, yellow, orange or reddish brown bell, that gets darker as they age. Their tentacles are thin, and often found in a mass which looks like a lion's mane. source
Purple Jellyfish or Mauve Stinger
The purple jellyfish is a small jellyfish whose bell grows to about 2 inches across. They have a purplish translucent bell that is dotted with red. They have long oral arms that trail behind them. source
Science
Anatomy
Look how many parts there are! SUCH MAJESTY!
Classification
There are many kinds of Jellyfish! Look how many kinds! SCIENCE!!!
| Jellyfish taxonomy (phylum Cnidaria: subphylum Medusozoa) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class | Subclass | Order | Suborder | Families |
Hydrozoa  |
Hydroidolina |
Anthomedusae |
Filifera |
|
Capitata |
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Leptomedusae |
Conica |
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Proboscoida |
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Siphonophorae |
Physonectae |
Rhodaliidae |
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Calycophorae |
Sphaeronectidae |
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Cystonectae |
Rhizophysidae |
|||
Trachylina |
Limnomedusae |
Armorhydridae |
||
Trachymedusae |
Rhopalonematidae |
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Narcomedusae |
Tetraplatiidae |
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Actinulidae |
Otohydridae |
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Staurozoa |
Eleutherocarpida |
Kyopodiidae |
||
Cleistocarpida |
Craterolophidae |
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|
Cubozoa 
|
Chiropsalmidae |
|||
|
Scyphozoa 
|
Coronatae |
Periphyllidae |
||
Semaeostomeae |
Ulmaridae |
|||
Rhizostomeae |
Versurigidae |
|||
Activity Corner
Diet
What do Jellyfish eat?
Jellyfish eat many different types of things, such as...
- small plants (phytoplankton)
- copepods (crustacean zooplankton)
- fish eggs and other small fish called larvae
- planktonic eggs and young stages (also called larvae) of many different kinds of marine animals
- even other jellyfish!
When jellyfish form blooms they eat almost everything in the water and this can cause problems for fisheries because there is no food left for the fish to eat!
Quoted from http://jellywatch.org/blooms/facts
Fun Facts
Biggest & Smallest
🏆Biggest: Lion's Mane Jellyfish
The Lion's Mane jellyfish, aka the Giant jellyfish, aka the Hair jelly is the largest known jellyfish in the world! It lives in large but cold waters, like the Arctic. source
🏆Smallest: Irukandji Jellyfish
The Irukandji jellyfish is the tiniest jellyfish in the whole world! It's smaller than a centimeter all around, but is also one of the most poisonous! source
What do you do if you're stung?
- Wash with vinegar, to rinse away the tentacles and stop the stinging cells. If you do this first, you won’t spread the sting to other areas when you try to remove the tentacles.
- Pull off the tentacles with tweezers. Scraping them off or rubbing with sand (another recommended approach) triggers any active stingers to release more venom, carefully remove tentacles.
- Apply heat.