[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

World Jellyfish Day - 3rd of November

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Read here about the world jellyfish day, that happens every year on the 3rd of November. Want to know about Ghost Pipefish? Click here to read about Ghost Pipefish - only 6 known species in our latest blog.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Jellyfish - Scyphozoa

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Despite their name, the Jellyfish is not a fish, as they do not have bones they are invertebrates, they also have no brains. Instead, they have a nerve network or nets to detect environmental changes but miss a central nervous system. There are approximately 2,000 species, but scientists think there could be up to 300,000 species not yet discovered.

A group of Jellyfish can be called by several names, including a smack, swarm or bloom, and they use their tentacles to sting their prey. They are plankton feeders predominantly, but during blooms, they can consume fish eggs, larvae, copepods or anything in the water. This can cause a disturbance to the ecosystems.

They can live for up to a year, but some will only survive for a few days, they have many predators including turtles, sharks and tuna.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Some interesting facts to celebrate World Jellyfish Day are:

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_column_text]

• They predate dinosaurs.
• They are 95% water
• If but in half they can regenerate into two jellyfish
• All Jellyfish colonies are either male or female, releasing both eggs and sperm.
• Jellyfish was first used as a name in England in 1707, most languages use Medusa, this comes from Greek mythology, and the Gorgon Medusa who had a hair was composed of snakes, suggesting tentacles of the jellyfish.
• There is a jellyfish named after Frank Zapper - Phialella Zappa, the scientist who named the species, chose this name to get to meet his guitar hero
• The largest jellyfish is the Lion Maine Jellyfish, with an amazing 36m tentacles and a diameter of over 2m.
• The bluebottle is not actually a jellyfish, its a hydroid.
• They are not just ocean dwellers; they are also found in freshwater lakes, streams or rivers.
• The eyes give the shark an advantage over their prey, by having plates in the retina that can reflect light twice as much they can see prey even in the dim light. They also have a third eyelid; this is here to protect the eyes from injury. Their sense of smell also facilitates finding prey from a great distance.
• If stung by a jellyfish you should not follow the myth of urinating on the sting, it may cause more toxins actually to be released. The best action is hot water irrigation and removing visible tentacles with tweezers. Medical help is needed if the pain persists.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"14409\" img_size=\"full\"][/vc_column][/vc_row]