#12 Jellyfish

#12 Jellyfish 

Common Name: Jellyfish/Jellies
Description

-White/clear

- About the size of a loonie

- Gelatinous texture

- They have no skeleton and are bell shaped

- Jellyfish have an incomplete digestive system, no intestines, liver or pancreas.

- They have many tentacles which aid in movement and feeding. Each tentacle is covered with cells called 'cnidocytes'.

Taxonomy

- Kingdom: Animalia

- Phylum: Cnidaria

- Class: Hydrozoa

- Order: Anthomedusae

- Family: Oceaniidae

- Genus: Turritopsis

- Species: T.nutricula

Ecology

- Jellyfish have a net like nervous system, some jellyfish have ocelli, which are light-sensitive organs. However, they are unable to form images.

- Jellyfish reproduce both sexually and asexually, through budding, brooding and spawning.

- Most jellies live between 2-6 months.

- They move by radially expanding and contracting their bell-shaped bodies.

- Jellies are carnivores, feeding on plankton, crustaceans, small fish and even other jellyfish.

- Some jellies sting their prey using nematocysts, which pierce the skin and inject venom, some can cause extreme reactions in humans leaving burn marks along the affected skin. Stings can range from no effect to extreme pain and even death.