jellyfish
Typically, jellyfish catch their prey with the aid of stinging cells located in the tentacles; many jellyfish can cause irritating or even dangerous stings to humans. Food is carried by the tentacles to the mouth, then is moved into the stomach and is distributed to the body through radial canals. Jellyfish move up and down by contracting and relaxing the bell, using muscles that circle the bell margin; they are carried horizontally by waves and currents.
类的水母水螅纲很小,不等from 1⁄8 in. (0.32 cm) to several inches in diameter, and usually have four tentacles. They have several (often four) unbranched radial canals and simple sense organs. In this group the polyp, or attached stage, is often larger and more conspicuous than the medusa.
Jellyfish of the class Scyphozoa, sometimes called true jellyfish, are larger and often have numerous tentacles; they have branched radial canals and complex sense organs. In this group the medusa is the prominent form and the polyp is reduced to a small larval stage. Scyphozoan jellyfish are commonly 3⁄4 in. to 16 in. (2–40 cm) in diameter, though the lion's mane jellyfish,Cyanea capillata,which is found in cold northern seas can exceed 6 ft (1.8 m) across and have tentacles over 100 ft (30 m) long; a similar jellyfish is also found in the waters off New Zealand and Australia.Aurelia,or moon jellyfish, the flattened species common along North American coasts, are usually 1 ft (30 cm) or less across.
锡yCraspedacusta,a hydrozoan jellyfish less than 1 in. (2.5 cm) long, occurs in freshwater lakes and ponds, but all other jellyfish are marine, living in ocean depths as well as along the coasts. The hydrozoanPhysalia,or Portuguese man-of-war, is actually a large colony of modified individuals, some medusalike and some polyplike; a large gas-filled sac acts as a float for the colony. The tentacles of such a colony may extend 60 ft (18 m) into the water and can cause severe injuries to swimmers.Physaliais usually bright blue, sometimes with tints of pink and orange. The purple sail,Velella,a floating hydrozoan colony 1 to 3 in. (2.5–7.5 cm) across, may be blue or purple.
Jellyfish are classified in the phylum Cnidaria.
See L. Gershwin,Stung! On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean(2013).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia,6th ed. Copyright © 2022, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on:Zoology: Invertebrates