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Questions and Answers
How do jellyfish trap their prey?
What are oral arms in jellyfish primarily used for?
Why do some jellyfish find that the food they captured cannot fit into their mouths?
What makes jellyfish unique in terms of seeing their food?
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What ecological impact can large jellyfish blooms have on marine ecosystems?
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Study Notes
What Is a Jellyfish?
- Jellyfish are sea creatures that have been floating around Earth's oceans for millions of years.
- They are invertebrates, or animals without backbones, and have no bones at all.
- They are made of a slimy, jelly-like material, which is how they got their name.
- Their bell-shaped bodies are translucent, or almost see-through.
- They lack a heart, blood, and a brain, making it difficult for them to swim, so they tend to float through water, moving along with the currents.
What Do Jellyfish Eat?
- Jellyfish are carnivorous animals that eat meat and feast on other sea creatures.
- They can be opportunistic predators, eating just about anything they float into.
- Their diet depends on their size, with smaller jellyfish eating plankton and larger ones preying on fish, shrimp, and crab.
- The largest jellyfish may even consume other jellyfish.
Unique Features of Jellyfish
- Jellyfish have long tentacles that trap their prey, sometimes using toxic venom to kill it.
- Oral arms, like fuzzy ribbons, bring food to the mouth.
- The mouth is a small hole located underneath the bell-shaped body.
- Since jellyfish bodies are translucent, the food inside is visible from the outside.
Jellyfish Blooms
- Large groups of jellyfish that drift together are called blooms.
- Blooms can consist of millions of jellyfish, negatively impacting other ocean animals.
- These blooms can lower the population of small fish, crab, shrimp, and plankton, making them more difficult to find.
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Description
Learn about the fascinating creatures known as jellyfish, which have been floating around Earth's oceans for millions of years. Discover why they are not actually fish, but invertebrates made of a slimy, jelly-like material.
