Jellyfish Take Over! PDF

# Jellyfish Take Over! by Annie Kiyonaga ## The Nomura's Jellyfish A giant jellyfish species is overtaking the waters of the Sea of Japan. Fishing nets and fish are being overwhelmed by these giant sea creatures. This is a real problem happening today because of one very large type of jellyfish....

# Jellyfish Take Over! by Annie Kiyonaga ## The Nomura's Jellyfish A giant jellyfish species is overtaking the waters of the Sea of Japan. Fishing nets and fish are being overwhelmed by these giant sea creatures. This is a real problem happening today because of one very large type of jellyfish. ## A Huge Jellyfish... Jellyfish are invertebrates, or animals with no backbone. There are many different kinds of jellyfish in the oceans around the world. The Nomura's Jellyfish is one of the largest jellyfish species in the world. They can weigh up to 450 pounds. That's as heavy as a full-grown lion! Their bodies are six feet wide, with long tentacles. Nomura's jellyfish grow to this massive size very quickly. When they are born, they are the size of a grain of rice. Within one year, these jellyfish grow to their full size. The Nomura's jellyfish has hundreds of tiny mouths all over its body. It uses these tiny mouths to eat plankton. Plankton are extremely small plants or organisms that drift along with the tide in the ocean. Using all its mouths, the Nomura's jellyfish eats massive amounts of plankton. Even though the Nomura's jellyfish is so large, the jellyfish's body is still soft and vulnerable to attack by larger animals. But the Nomura's jellyfish has special protections against predators: it has stingers called nematocysts all over its body. These stingers inject the jellyfish's victims with toxins. The Nomura's jellyfish stingers don't just hurt other sea creatures, though. They also provide protection for some small fish. Since the Nomura's jellyfish is so large, some small fish have learned how to avoid the jellyfish's dangerous stingers. These fish hang out inside the jellyfish's tentacles, avoiding its stingers and staying safe from predators. Unfortunately, humans have not learned how to avoid the Nomura's jellyfish's sting yet. Thousands of swimmers off the coasts of Japan are stung by Nomura's jellyfish every year. These stings can be dangerous for people, sometimes leading to pain, swelling, or death. Today, there are so many Nomura's jellyfish in the Sea of Japan that the Japanese government has created a special government group to try and fix the problem.