Jellyfish
About Jellyfish
Jellyfish are fish-eating animals that float in the sea and only a few jellyfish live in fresh water. They have soft bodies and long, stinging, poisonous tentacles that they use to catch fish. Venom is sent out through stinging cells called nematocysts. A jellyfish is 98% water. There are many types of jellyfish. The smallest jellyfish are just a few inches across. The largest jellyfish is the lion's mane on its Latin name Cyanea capillata, whose body can be over one meter across, with much longer tentacles. Some jellyfish glow in the dark which is called phosphorescence. Some of the deadliest jellies include the box jelly from Genus Carybdea and the tiny, two-cm-across Irukandji jelly (Carukia barnesi); the venomous sting of these jellyfish can kill a person with its venom. Many animals eat jellyfish, including sea turtles and some fish, including the sun fish or sea bass. They are umbrella shaped and have a whorl of string-like tentacles around their circular edge. The tentacles enclose hundreds of special cells called cnidocytes. The cnidocytes hold the nematocysts that are used to capture prey. The jellyfish are usually somewhat translucent with a whitish or greenish tinge.
