White Spotted Jellyfish

We just learned about the Lobed Comb Jellyfish that lights up like a rainbow.

Another type of jellyfish is the White Spotted Jellyfish, also called the floating bell, Australian spotted jellyfish, or phyllorhiza punctata.

This type of jelly started out living in warm water in the Pacific ocean by Australia and Japan, but has now been found all the way over by California, and even in the Gulf of Mexico.
It grows to about 20 inches wide, and does have a sting but it doesn't really hurt humans.

They swim in large groups with other white spotted jellies, and because of this they can be harmful to other life in the ocean.
In their groups they swim along and eat all of the tiny little things like zooplankton, or eggs of crabs, shrimp or fish.
They also clog up the boat motors and cause problems with ships on the sea.



(from: wikipedia - phyllorhiza punctata)


(from: youtube - Underwater Beauty: Spotted Jellies - Shedd Aquarium)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Giant Cuttlefish

Lobed Comb Jellyfish

We just learned about the small Barrel Jellyfish.

Another jellyfish is the Lobed Comb Jellyfish, also called the common northern comb jelly, or the bolinopsis infundibulum.

It grows to about 6 inches long, and lives mostly in the northern Atlantic Ocean.

This type of jelly is see through or sometimes milky white.
It has two small tentacles, and it's mouth is at one end of its body.

They have little tiny hairs along their body that they use to swim around.
On their body they have parts that light up using bioluminescence.
This means some chemicals in their body mix together to change colors and glow in the dark.


(from: wikipedia - bolinopsis infundibulum)


(from: youtube - The Lovely Lobed Comb Jelly - Monterey Bay Aquarium)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mimic Octopus

Barrel Jellyfish

We just learned about the Darth Vader Jellyfish that lives in the deep sea and looks like Darth Vader's helmet.

Another type of jellyfish is the Barrel Jellyfish, also called the dustbin-lid jellyfish, frilly-mouthed jellyfish, or rhizostoma pulmo.

This type of jelly lives in the Atlantic ocean, and the Mediterannean sea.
It is very small, only usually growing around 16 inches.




(from: wikipedia - rhizostoma pulmo)


(from: youtube - Swimming with a giant Barrel Jellyfish - Matt Slater)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Vampire Squid

Darth Vader Jellyfish

We just learned about the Atolla Jellyfish that lives in the deep sea and flashes blue lights.

Another type of jelly is the Darth Vader Jellyfish, also called the bathykorus bouilloni.
It gets the long name from bathy which means "deep" and korus which means "helment", and the scientist Dr. Jean Bouillon who found it.

Because it looks kind of like Darth Vader's helmet, sometimes people call it the Darth Vader jellyfish instead!

This jelly lives very deep in the sea, at around 1,000 meters!
It is very small, only about 2 centimeters wide.
The bell is see through and pale blue, and it has eight tentacles for stinging.
They live mostly around Greenland and Canada.

Because these jellies live so deep, people can not swim down and see them, they can only be seen by robotic submarines that people send deep into the ocean with cameras on them to look around.


(from: wikipedia - bathykorus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Red Cuttlefish

Atolla Jellyfish

We just learned about the Irukandji Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Atolla Jellyfish, also called the Atolla wyvillei or Coronate medusa.

The atolla jellyfish live very deep in the ocean, from 1,000 to 4,000 meters deep.

These are very tiny jellyfish, only growing about 170 milimeters wide.
They have about 20 tentacles floating off of their bell, and then one really long one that hangs out trying to trap prey to eat.

Because these jellies are so small, they get eaten a lot by other animals.
When they think they are in danger, they are able to flash their body like a blinking blue light.

When this happens, sometimes a bigger animal will come along and eat the smaller animal that is trying to eat the jelly.
This gets the jelly the nickname of "Alarm Jelly" because it's alarm goes off when it gets scared.

Scientists have copied this flashing blue light and used it to try and get other big deep sea animals to come check it out.


(from: wikipedia - atolla jellyfish)



Creatures of the Deep | Atolla Jelly - oceannetworks canada


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lituites Nautilus

Irukandji Jellyfish

We just learned about the Immortal Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Irukandji Jellyfish.

This is the smallest type of jelly, and also one of the most venomous ones in the world!

They can be as small as 0.2 inches, and as big as a little less than 1 inch.
Their tentacles can be as short as less than one inch, or as long as 3 feet.

If this type of jelly stings a person, after about 30 minutes they can have headaches, muscle pains, throwing up, or even a heart attack.
It can take a few hours to get better, or sometimes a day or even a few weeks!

Such a small jelly that pack such a dangerous sting can be scary to watch out for in the water.
These jellies mostly only live around Australia on the north side.



(from: wikipedia - irukandji jellyfish)



Irukandji Jellyfish - World's deadliest fishing - The Nature of Science


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Argonaut Octopus

Immortal Jellyfish

We just learned about the Lion's Mane Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Immortal Jellyfish, also called the turritopsis dohrnii.

This type of jellyfish does not get very big, less than one inch when it is fully grown.

This jellyfish starts out as a tiny baby jellyfish on the ocean floor.
When it grows up, it turns into a little bigger jellyfish and swims around the ocean looking for food.

If it gets hurt or is starving too badly, it can actually turn back into a baby jellyfish and start all over on the ocean floor!
That's like a grown up human turning back into a baby and starting life all over!

Because these jellyfish could do this over and over forever, they are called the immortal jellyfish, because immortal means you live forever.


(from: wikipedia - turritopsis dohrnii)


The Strange But Incredible Immortal Jellyfish - V101 Science


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bigfin Reef Squid

Lion's Mane Jellyfish

We just learned about the Cannonball Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Lion's Mane Jellyfish, also called the Giant Jellyfish or the Hair Jelly.

This is the largest type of jellyfish in the world, with the biggest one ever found being over 7 feet wide, and over 120 feet long.
That's taller than a house, and even longer than the blue whale!

Most of these jellies only grow to be about 2 feet wide, and they live in the very cold parts of the pacific ocean.
They swim about 65 feet under the water, and eat very tiny animals.
Other big animals like leatherback sea turtles love to eat these jellyfish for a snack!

They have over a thousand stinging tentacles, but they don't hurt too bad for humans, just the tiny animals they want to eat.




(from: wikipedia - lion's mane jellyfish)


Lion's Mane Jellyfish - Matteo Endrizzi


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Flamboyant Cuttlefish

Cannonball Jellyfish

We just learned about the Black Sea Nettle.

Another type of jellyfish is the Cannonball Jellyfish, also called the cabbagehead jellyfish, or Stomolophus meleagris.

It gets its name because it is about the size of a cannonball, and it is round and sometimes brown colored.
They grow to about 10 inches wide, and underneath they have arms taht they use to catch prey or to swim.

These jellies are usually found in the Atlantic ocean, all the way from North America to South America.
Sometimes they are found in the Pacific ocean too, but not as much.

They mostly eat small animals like plankton, by letting out some mucus that has a toxin poison in it.
This poison keeps away predators and stings the small fish or plankton so they can eat them.

Humans normally would only get an itchy sting from these jellies, but they can cause humans to have heart problems or eye problems if they are stung.

The leatherback sea turtle is the top predator for these jellies and will eat them right up.



(from: wikipedia - canonball jellyfish)


Cannonball! - Monterey Bay Aquarium


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Orthoceras Nautilus

Black Sea Nettle

We just learned about the Fried Egg Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Black Sea Nettle, also called the black jellyfish, sarlacc jellyfish, or chrysaora achlyos.

This type of jelly lives in the Pacific Ocean, from California to British Columbia.

They can grow to be very big, over 3 feet wide and about 20 feet long.
The color of their bell top can be dark purple or black, and their tentacles are usually a lighter purple color.

For food these jellies eat plankton or other jellyfish by stinging them and then using their tentacles to bring them to to their mouths.
Their tentacles have thousands of stingers that stun or kill their prey.
People would get a painful sting from them, but they are not deadly.




(from: wikipedia - chrysaora achlyos)


Diving with Black Sea Nettle Jellyfish ( Chrysaora achlyos ) - CDub


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Firefly Squid

Fried Egg Jellyfish

We just learned about the Blue Blubber Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Fried Egg Jellyfish or egg yolk jellyfish.

There are two types of jellyfish that have this nickname.
Their big long science names are phacellophora camtschatica, and cotylorhiza tuberculata.

The phacellophora camtschatica grows up to 2 feet wide and has tentacles up to 20 feet long.
It lives in the cold water of the ocean.
To eat, it snacks on other tiny jellyfish or types of plankton that get stuck in its long tentacles.
This jelly's sting is so weak that sometimes small crabs will ride on top of its bell and will even steal food that it has trapped in its tentacles!


(from: wikipedia - phacellophora camtschatica)


Egg Yolk Jellyfish - Phacellophora camtschatica - Jellyfish Are Awesome

The cotylorhiza tuberculata grows to about 16 inches wide, but its tentacles are much shorter.
It lives in warmer water, mostly in the Mediterranean Sea, and is sometimes even called the Mediterranean Jellyfish.
There are so many jellies in that water that they get in the way of boating and fishing, and sometimes they will remove thousands of jellyfish in a year!




(from: wikipedia - cotylorhiza tuberculata)


Samos - Fried egg jellyfish - Torben Olsen


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cirroteuthis Octopus

Blue Blubber Jellyfish

We just learned about the Nomura's Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Blue Blubber Jellyfish, also called the jelly blubber or catostylus mosaicus.

This type of jelly lives over by Australia, and swims around with lots of other blue blubbers in big swarms.

Sometimes it is blue, or white or even brown, and it grows to be about 18 inches.
They mostly eat small things like plankton or fish, and they have stingers that hurt people but won't kill a human.




(from: wikipedia - jelly blubber)


Blue Blubber Jellyfish Tank --The Aquarium King-- - The Aquarium King


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Grimpoteuthis - Dumbo Octopus

Nomura's Jellyfish

We just learned about the Moon Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is Nomura's Jellyfish.

This is the biggest jellyfish in the world, and can grow to be over 6 feet wide and weigh over 400 pounds!
In only six months they can grow from the size of a grain of rice to 6 feet wide.

They live over near China in the Yellow sea and East China sea.
For food these jellies start eating small things like plankton, but then as they get bigger they will eat some kinds fish.
Other animals that eat these jellies are swordfish, tuna, sunfish and leatherback turtles.
Even some people eat these, and in Japan someone makes a type of vanilla and jellyfish flavored ice cream.

They do have a sting that is painful, but as long as the person gets to a doctor they will be ok.





(from: wikipedia - nomura's jellyfish)


Nomura's Jellyfish, Japan - SuiTube5


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blue Ringed Octopus

Moon Jellyfish

We just learned about the Flower Hat Jelly.

Another type of jellyfish is the Moon Jellyfish.

This type of small jellyfish only grows to be about 12 inches wide, and is mostly see through.
It lives in cold or hot water in just about every part of the ocean in the world.

They do not move very much, just mostly float around and try to eat up some plankton or fish eggs floating in the water.
Other animals eat these jellyfish a lot, like fish or birds.
Their sting is so little that most people can even pick up this jellyfish and hold it in their hand.




(from: wikipedia - aurelia aurita)


Moon Jellies - PtDefianceZoo1


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hawaiian Bobtail Squid

Flower Hat Jelly

We just learned about the Crystal Jelly.

Another type of Jellyfish is the Flower Hat Jelly.

These jellies live in the Pacific ocean near Japan and South Korea.
The grownup jellies only live for a few months.

They rest on the bottom of the ocean during the day, then at night they float up to catch their prey, like small fish.
It's bell is mostly clear with a few darker stripes on it.
Around the bell it has tentacles around the rim of their bell that it can use to sting prey.
If a person gets stung by a flower hat jelly they will usually just get a painful rash.

A full grown jelly can grow to be about 6 inches wide.
When they are just starting to grow up, they are usually less than 1 inch wide.




(from: wikipedia - flower hat jelly)


Welcoming Flower-hat Jellies! - Tennessee Aquarium


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Coconut Octopus

Crystal Jelly

We just learned about the Upside Down Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Crystal Jelly.

This type of jelly is mostly clear, with lines called radial lines in the bell part of its body called the bell that help it swim.

Around the outside of the bell are small tentacles that it uses to sting its prey, but the sting does not hurt humans.

It's mouth is hanging down in the middle, and this jelly eats very tiny things like plankton or barnacles.

They live mostly in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California.



(from: wikipedia - aequorea victoria)


Crystal Jellyfish Are Clearly Awesome! - Monterey Bay Aquarium


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: European Squid

Upside-Down Jellyfish

We just learned about the Cauliflower Jellyfish.

Another type of Jellyfish is the Upside-Down Jellyfish, also called the Cassiopea Andromeda.

This kind of jellyfish usually lives in the sand or mud.
A lot of times people think this jelly is a sea anemone because it lays on the ground.
It lays on its back with its arms up waving around, and it uses its bell to keep the water flowing up on its arms.
If some animals come along to its arms, they will get stung and then fall into the jellyfish's mouth that is pointing up.

These jellies also live with algea growing in and around it, and some shrimp, and some other very small animals called zooxanthellae.
These tiny animals help keep other animals away that might hurt the jelly, and the jelly helps keep predators away that might hurt them.





(from: wikipedia - cassiopea andromeda)


[HD] No Sea anemone!!! Upside-down jellyfish / Mangrovenqualle @ Aquazoo [29/52] - FischbottichTV Nils


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cuttlefish

Cauliflower Jellyfish

We just learned about the Purple Striped Jelly.

Another type of jellyfish is the Cauliflower Jellyfish, also sometimes called the crown jellyfish or cephea.

The rounded top of a jellyfish's body is called the bell.
On top of this jellyfish's bell is what looks like a cauliflower crown, so that is where they get their nickname.

The bell of this jelly is a bluish purple colored skirt, that they use to swim along.
On the bottom of the jelly are large orange brown mouth arms that it uses to eat with, and a bunch of very small tentacles that it uses to sting its prey so it can eat it.





(from: wikipedia - cephea)


Crown Jellyfish - kitachan3


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chambered Nautilus

Purple Striped Jelly

We just started learning about Jellyfish.

One kind of jellyfish is the Purple Striped Jelly, also called the Chrysaora colorata or the mauve stinger.

This jellyfish lives mostly in the Pacific ocean near California.

The main big body of a jellyfish is called a "bell".
This animal's bell is a little over two feet wide, and usually has stripes going out from the middle, almost like spokes on a bicycle.

Sometimes small crabs called cancer crabs live in the jellyfish, and eat tiny little parasites called amphipods that hurt the jellyfish.

They usually have about eight long skinny dark arms and four frilly oral arms.
These jellies use their long arms to sting their prey, and then bring it over to the frilly oral arms.
The oral arms help to hold on to the prey, and bring it up to the jellyfish's mouth so they can eat it.



(from: wikipedia - chrysaora colorata)


Purple Striped Jelly Montage, Chrysaora Colorata, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, California, USA - Jim Gateley


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Common Octopus

Jellyfish

We just learned a lot about Cephalopods!.

Let's start learning about something new: Jellyfish!.

The fancy name for all of the different types of Jellyfish is "Medusozoa"
They got this name because a famous scientist named Carl Linnaeus thought their long tentacles kind of looked like the snake haired woman named Medusa in Greek mythology.

Some scientists now use the name "jellies" or "sea jellies" instead of jellyfish, because they are not really a kind of fish.

Whatever you call them, these cool weird animals are found all over the world, in all shapes and sizes!


(from: wikipedia - jellyfish)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cephalopods