7. 500 – 700 million years ago, even before dinosaurs roamed the Earth,
jellyfish were drifting along on ocean currents. Jellies are among the most
spectacular and mysterious marine species in the world.
They are the oldest multi-organ animal and have morphed into more than
2,000 different jellyfish species. Some live in freshwater, but jellies can be
found in every ocean. Some sea jellies survive close to the surface while
others dwell in extreme depths, glowing with bioluminescence in the pitch
black water near the bottom of the ocean.
Many scientists and deep ocean explorers expect to discover countless
more beautiful jiggly jellyfish as they explore deep sea canyons, and other
extreme water conditions near underwater volcano vents and in the harsh
frozen temperatures of arctic waters
8. Jellyfish go with flow and have drifted along on ocean currents for millions of years, even before dinosaurs lived on the Earth. Few marine creatures are as
mysterious and intimidating as jellyfish. Though easily recognized, these animals are often misunderstood. Sea nettles often have riders on their bodies, sometimes
offering a place for small living organisms to be able to move around and sometimes being the food source for the organism. There is a reddish tint on the bell of
the Pacific Sea Nettle or West Coast Sea Nettle which can span over 3 feet. This is a distinctive characteristic along with maroon tentacles that identify this
particular species of jellyfish. The tentacles can be up to 15 feet long. Photo by luna http://pixdaus.com/luna/user/profile/1393/
9. Inside th e bell or umbrella-shaped body is the mouth open ing and jellyfish tentacles hang down from gelatinous bodies. They use the stinging cells of their
tentacles to stun or paralyze their prey before they eat it. Jellies mostly float on ocean currents, but if a jellyfish squirts water from its mouths, then it can propel
forward. Photo by animaltheory
11. If there are aliens on our planet, it might be NOAA, and not NASA, to discover that in the unexplored depths of our oceans . . . this summer one leading British
space scientists claimed aliens do exist and they look similar to huge jellyfish. Photo by NOAA’s National Ocean Service
12. This is a “Mauve Stinger” in Australia, but the most feared jellyfish in Australian waters is the box jellyfish. It is “the most venomous marine animal known to mankind
and its sting is often fatal.” Photo by animaltheory
14. The Natio nal Science Foundation funds and manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, which supports research in aeronomy and astrophysics, biology and medicine,
geology and geophysics, glaciology, and ocean and climate systems. (Date of Image: Oct. 14, 2005) Diplulmaris antarctica. Photo by Henry Kaiser, National Science
Foundation
15. Sea Jellies Gallery from Manila Ocean Park. Although jellies are soft-bodied and lack a skeleton, making fossils rare, evidence suggests that jellyfish predate
dinosaurs by some 400 million years. Photo by FoxyReign
16. Papuan Jellyfish (Mastigias papua) in a special exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This aquarium also has a huge bioluminescence and fluorescence jellies
exhibit. Photo by Stevenj
17. A flotilla of fish follow a transparent drifting jellyfish, Aure lia aurita. The stingers in its tentacles have toxins in them. A jellyfish will sting anything that comes in
contacts with including other creatures in the water and even humans. The sting of different jellies have different toxicity levels. Photo by Sonke Johnson / NOAA
Office of Ocean Exploration
18. The Natio nal Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOA A) and its ancestor agencies have been exploring the sea for about 180 years now. One such expedition to
the hidden realms and canyons of the sea discovered this jellyfish during “Voyage To Inner Space – Exploring the Seas With NOAA.” Photo by Anna Fiolek, NOAA
Central Library
19. Jellyfish (Tiburonia granrojo) – a new species described by MBARI and JAMSTEC researchers. This species grows up to 1 meter in diameter. Photo by
NOAA/Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
20. Cassiopea is also called the upside-down jellyfish. The “mild” stings are notorious for being extraordinarily itchy, appearing in the form of a red rash-like skin irritation. When there are
a group of jellies, it is called swarm or a smack. Photo by Jacopo Werther
22. Moon jellyfish in the Pairi Daiza aquarium in Belgium. This is one of the most common jellyfish that people see in aquariums around the globe. If stung by the moon
jelly, it is only slightly venomous. Contact can produce symptoms from immediate prickly sensations to a mild burning pain. Photo by Luc Viatour / www.Lucnix.be
23. Jelly fish at the Osaka Aquarium. Photo by Kevin
Dooley
24. Jelly fish at the Osaka Aquarium. Photo by
Kevin Dooley
25. Mauve stinger jellyfish in a rockpool on the South coast of Sardinia, Italy. Photo by Hans Hillewaert
28. Mediterranean jellyfish. The Cassiopeia Mediterranean species reaches 30 cm in diameter and has numerous short tentacles. Photo by Intandem
29. Olindias formosa at Osaka Aquarium. The “flower hat jelly can grow to be about 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter. Its sting is painful but non-lethal to humans. Its diet
consists mostly of small fish.” Photo by KENPEI
30. The Sea Nettle is semi-transparent and has small whitish dots and reddish-brown stripes. In some cases, these stripes and dots are missing, and they make the sea
nettle look whitish and opaque. The sea nettle is saucer-like in shape. The bell of the sea nettle usually grows to about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. It also has four oral
arms attached to the underside of the mouth. In addition to this, it has a number of long tentacles, along the margins of its body, which extend for several feet.
Photo by Anna Fiolek/ Expedition to the Deep Slope 2007, NOAA OE
31. Aurelia aurita jellyfish seen during Operation Deep Scope. Photo by Dr. Justin Marshall, University of Queensland / NOAA
33. Massive swarm of sea nettles jellies (Chrysaora
fuscescens). Photo by Anastasia Shesterinina
34. Massive swarm of sea nettles jellies (Chrysaora
fuscescens). Photo by Joe Penniston
35. Black Sea Nettle (“Chrysaora Achlyos”). They have four oral arms; long marginal tentacles hang from the bell and can extend several feet. Symptoms from sea nettle
stings often are described as burning rather than stinging and are considered moderate to severe. Exercise caution if sea nettles are observed in the water, and do not
swim if large numbers are present. The carnivorous Black Sea Nettle is a ‘giant’ among jellyfish with its bell measuring up to 3 feet (1 m) in size, and its arms extending
up to 20 ft (6 m) in length. Photo by Jim G
36. “Purple-striped Jelly” (Chrysaora Colorata) taken at Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, California, USA. The Scyphozoa class, within the phylum Cnidaria, are
sometimes referred to as the ‘true jellyfish’.” Photo by Sanjay Acharya
37. Nomura jellyfish in Little Munsom island, Jeju-do, South Korea. “This one got a bit cropped as I was dodging the stinging tentacles, so I’m not 100% happy with it,”
wrote the photographer. Photo by Janne Hellsten from Helsinki, Finland
38. Squishy Cephea cephea in Mactan Cebu, Philippines, can grow up to 18 inches in diameter. Photo by Juuyoh Tanaka
39. This tiny and very dangerous Portugese Man-O-War was
collected using a dip net over the rail of the R-V Seward
Johnson during one evenings “night-lighting” samplings. Its
sting is said to be as toxic as a cobra’s bite. Although NOAA
has it listed as a jellyfish, it looks exactly like a jellyfish and is
potentially deadly, but is actually not a true jellyfish. It is in fact
a Siphonophorae, which is a collection of multiple organisms.
The tentacles are a separate creature to the gas bladder, for
example, and their tentacles can be as long as 45 metres or
more. Whilst they can inflect painful stings on humans that, in
some rare cases, results in death, some animals such as the
Clownfish can swim amongst the normally lethal tentacles with
impunity. Photo by PD US NOAA, Physalia physalis
40. “Dance i n light.” The life span and maximum size varies b y jelly species. Jellyfish held in public aquariums are carefully tended, fed daily even when food might be
seasonally rare in the wild, and sometimes treated with antibiotics if they develop infections, so may live several years, though this would be very unusual in the
sea. Most large coastal jellyfish live 2 to 6 months, during which they grow from a millimeter or two to many centimeters in diameter. Photo Donnie Nunley
41. The comb jelly Mertensia ovum is fishing for food under Arctic ice; Alaska, Beaufort Sea, North of Point Barrow. Photo by Elisabeth Calvert / NOAA Hidden Ocean
Expedition
42. The lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) is also know
as the winter jelly because the lion’s mane typically
appears during colder months of the year. Found in the
north Atlantic, they have a bell which can reach six feet
(two meters) in diameter with tentacles as long as 100
feet (33 meters). Cyanea are generally considered
moderate stingers. Symptoms are similar to those of the
moon jelly but, usually more intense. Pain is relatively
mild and often described as burning rather than stinging.
Photo by Dan Hershman
43. Giant No rmura’s Jellyfish invading Japan. “Pitting two han ds against thousands of stinging tentacles, a diver attaches a tracking device to a giant Nomura’s
jellyfish off the coast of Japan on October 4, 2005.” The 450 pounds and seven feet long Nomura jellies have plagued Japan. This jelly is about the size of a sumo
wrestler, but it’s smaller when compared to the cold-water lion’s mane jellyfish that can reach over 100 feet long with 1,000 stinging tentacles. Photo by
DazzlingFacts
44. The lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata). Mandal, Norway. Photo by Arnstein Rønning
45. These m oon jellyfish would fit right in on one undergroun d level of Skyrim. Wikipedia explains, “The medusa is translucent, usually about 25–40 cm in diameter,
and can be recognized by its four horseshoe-shaped gonads that are easily seen through the top of the bell.” They are called Aurelia Aurita, Saucer Jelly and
Common Jelly. Photo by dark side of the moon
46. Australian Box Jellyfish is listed in the deadliest animals on the planet, even more so that the Great White shark. The box jelly is the most venomous marine animal
known to mankind. It transparent and pale blue in color, which makes it pretty much invisible in the water. For a long time, nobody knew what was causing
swimmers such excruciating pain and sometimes killing them. Also called the Sea Wasp, these jellies are strong, graceful swimmers. The box jelly can grow up to
5-6 inches in diameter and 4-6 inches in height. Photo by Photograph by David Doubilet
47. 2.5 cm lo ng Antarctic Transparent Jellyfish. Jellies reprod uce both sexually and asexually. Upon reaching adult size, jellyfish spawn daily if there is enough food. In
most species, spawning is controlled by light, so the entire population spawns at about the same time of day, often at either dusk or dawn. Photo by Bill Curtsinger,
National Geographic
48. Medusa — Queen Jellyfish. Some jellyfish like blubber jellies are edible and considered a delicacy in parts of Asia. Photo by jekrub
49. The inner glow of jelly on Ningaloo Reef,
Australia. Photo by Danis
51. Jellyfish are made up of more than 95% water. Their gelatin-soft bodies lack a skeletal structure or outer shell. They are delicate and easily damaged. Jellyfish die
when removed from the water, but if you step on a dead jelly, it can still sting you. Photo by goodfon
52. Most jellyfish live from a few hours to a few months, but there is a species of jelly called Turritopsis nutricula that may be immortal. The jelly reportedly can play its
life-cycle in reverse, transforming from an adult medusa back to an immature poly. Photo by Stella31
53. Since jellyfish are not actually fish, some people consider the term jellyfish a misnomer. American public aquariums have popularized the terms jellies or sea jellies.
Photo by Victor Amor
63. end
cast Jellyfish
images and text credit www.
Music Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene
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Phyllorhiza punctata (White-spotted jellyfish) Nhobgood Nick Hobgood
