Jellyfish Facts
A Short List of Jellyfish Facts
Jellyfish facts are abundant, since jellyfish are most assuredly some of nature's most interesting creatures.
For example, jellyfish are considered a delicacy in some cultures, including that of Japan. Dried jellyfish are exported to other countries, too. Jellyfish “meat” spoils very quickly if it's not dried.
Jellyfish don't have any bones, or a heart or a brain. Some jellyfish, facts state, can detect prey even though most don't have what we consider eyes.
Jellyfish use their tentacles to catch their prey – they sting to kill it, and then the prey is moved into their digestive system. If you step on a jellyfish, facts show that you will probably be stung as well. Whether it's serious or not depends mainly on the type of jelly you stepped on.
The medusa is the phase of jellyfish that we think of when we hear the term jellyfish. There are other phases of their life cycle as well – larval, planula and polyp.
Here are a few more jellyfish facts:
Jellies have been around for longer than dinosaurs or sharks, about 650 million years.
Jellyfish of some type can be found in all the oceans around the world. One type can even be found in fresh water.
The Box Jellyfish kills more people every year than any other marine animal including sharks.
The world's largest known jellyfish, facts confirm, can reach up to eight feet in diameter, and its tentacles can grow to fifty yards in length!
Jellies use various means to move in the water. Some can swim, where others use the oceans' currents to drift along.
Some types of jellyfish contain a good deal of protein, and scientists think they could be used to try to end hunger in underdeveloped countries.
Jellyfish can reproduce asexually and sexually, during different life cycles.
Jellyfish are not actually all “fish”. The name for the class of animal they are comes from a Greek work that means “drinking cup”.
Jellyfish facts tell us that the jellies have a life cycle of only three to six months.
Jellyfish don't have a respiratory system, a circulatory system or a nervous system.
Jellyfish have only a partial digestive system, and they use the same orifice for food intake and waste expulsion.
A group of jellyfish is called a “smack”. They feed on small fish and protozoa.
Some jellyfish don't have tentacles.
Jellyfish don't attack humans, but they can cause serious or even life-threatening injuries when people step on them or swim into their tentacles, in the water.
Jellyfish move in the water by expanding and contracting their bodies, or by using ocean currents.
There are many interesting jellyfish facts. I hope you enjoyed learning about this unique creature.