Join us as we travel the oceans far and wide with these electric jellyfish facts!

jellyfish facts

Fast jellyfish facts

Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Scyphozoa
Classification: Invertebrate
IUCN status: Not evaluated
Lifespan (in wild): One year
Weight: Up to 2kg
Body size: 2cm to 2m
Top speed: 8km/h
Diet: Fish, shrimp, crabs, tiny plants and even other species of jellyfish
Habitat: Oceans
Range:

jellyfish facts range

Jellyfish have been around for millions of years, even before dinosaurs lived on the Earth. Pulsing along on our ocean currents, these jelly-like creatures can be found in waters both cold and warm, deep and shallow and along coastlines, too. Some jellyfish are clear, but others are vibrant colours of pink, yellow, blue and purple. They can be bioluminescent, too, which means they produce their own light!

jellyfish facts

Jellyfish have no brain, heart, bones or eyes. They are made up of a smooth, bag-like body and tentacles armed with tiny, stinging cells. These incredible invertebrates use their stinging tentacles to stun or paralyse prey before gobbling it up.

The jellyfish’s mouth is found in the centre of its body. From this small opening it both eats and discards waste. And it serves another purpose, too – by squirting a jet of water from its mouth, the jellyfish can propel forward! Cool, eh?

jellyfish facts

Jellyfish digest their food, which consists of fish, shrimp, crabs and tiny plants, very quickly. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to float, being weighed down by the large, undigested grub in their body.

The jellyfish itself provides a tasty meal for other ocean creatures, particularly sea turtles, who like to guzzle them up regularly. In some cultures around the world, people eat jellyfish, too. In China, they are considered a delicacy, and are also used in Chinese medicine.

jellyfish facts

Jellyfish stings can be painful to humans and, from certain species, they can even be deadly. Although these magnificent marine creatures don’t purposely attack humans, most stings occur when people accidentally touch a jellyfish.

 

Picture credits
Bioflourescent jellyfish: Getty Images UK. Close-up of purple jellyfish: Bruce H. Obison. Jellyfish with long tentacles: Natursports, Dreamstime. Yellow jellyfish: Tim Hester, Dreamstime. Map showing jellyfish distribution: National Geographic Maps. 

 

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COMMENTS

  • jellyfishes are amazing

  • Coolboy

    Wow great thank you so much!

  • Benji

  • Joe

    wow

  • asfhk

    are cool

  • Jelly

    Cool

  • JimmyIsCool

    Jellyfishes are cool

  • plant

    jellyfish are awesomly bad animals

  • Cool

  • Cool

  • Plant

  • Rosa

    WoW

  • plant

    cool

  • wow

  • Alisha

    there is a type of jelly fish that lives forever. Its called the immortal jellyfish!

  • cool

  • Riley H

    Jellyfish are amazing and awesome. I liked the pictures

  • Tigers

    It was very informative about how the magnificent live , eat and there body structure

  • ANIMALAM SHRAM

    Great facts

  • It was interesting

  • Stella

    I'm so excited!

  • animal lover6540

    EPIC

  • WOW

  • jedidah

    I love it

  • olivia

    cool

  • Super cool

  • Wow

  • Noice

  • dolphin

    Cool!

  • cool

  • Ann and Anna

  • WOW