The word “jellyfish” is often used to describe animals that are made of gelatinous materials. Some types of jellyfish sting (called medusae) and others do not (called a salp). When a huge amount of plants or animals show up suddenly, scientists call it a “bloom”. Jellyfish often bloom, which causes issues for fisheries and tourism. A common analogy used to describe the delicate way jellyfish pounce through the water likens the jelly’s movements to ‘a simple form of jet propulsion’.
Jellyfish have large appetites, including phytoplankton, copepods (zooplankton), larvae, and sometimes, even other jellyfish. When the jellyfish are moving in ‘blooms’, they will eat literally anything that’s in the water/in their way. A jellyfish has a simple digestive system with only one opening. Fun fact: jellyfish are made up of more than 95% water.
The expected life span of a jellyfish is one year, typically starting with a spring birth and growing into adulthood during summer. By the end of summer, the jellyfish’s delicate skin is quite damaged by the end of summer, causing problems, which ultimately lead to death. However, scientists recently discovered an “immortal” species of jellyfish, which reverts back to a larval state as it ages, causing “immortality”.
Though it is rare for a jellyfish to reproduce in captivity, it is not uncommon for jellyfish to reproduce in the wild. They are typically found in coastal waters of all zones, but mostly warm or tropical waters. They are even found in brackish water with as low a salt content as 0.6%. Their biomes are reefs, tropical coastal, and freshwater lakes. They are also found in both oceans and inshore seas. Jellyfish can withstand temperatures as low as -6 degrees Celsius and as high as 31 degr...
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T. californicus is found from Alaska to Baja in small, shallow tidepools and tidal flats in the upper spray zone where they cannot avoid the full effect of visible and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Individuals assemble in areas of lower radiation at midday, yet have no preference to the intensity of light at dawn and dusk (Hartline and Macmillan 1995). These tiny arthropods inhabit all types of marine sediments from sand to fine mud and ooze. Along with plankton, T. californicus eats microscopic algae, protists, bacteria, diatoms, algae and microbes (McGroarty 1958). When the concentrations of the species in their habitats are high, T. californicus will turn to cannibalism for a food source. The nautilus eye present in the species is rich with fatty acids and provides a good food source for the animal.
Aside from the ecological damage, it is feared that these fishermen will go after other, rarer species when the sea cucumbers are depleted. (Stutz, 1995) It has been proposed to raise sea cucumber in captivity, but difficulties exist, such as locating the sexually mature sea cucumbers, the timing of mating the animals, providing the necessary food for the larvae, and then releasing the sea cucumbers at the right time. (Cohn, 1996). The sea cucumber, or Cucumaria frondosa, make up the class Holothuroidae, of the phylum Echinodermata.
Clincher: Unless we change the way we view our oceans, jellyfish might be the only seafood on the menu in the near future.
When someone says the word octopus, an image of an eight legged invertebrate comes to mind. The body structure of a mature octopus is very interesting. Octopuses are extremely intelligent. They have excellent memory can use tools, and are great problem solvers. Only birds and mammals are known to be smarter. Each one of their tentacles, which are used for prying open clam shells, has two rows of suckers that can give them a pretty good grip. An octopus also tastes with its tentacles. An octopus’s third right arm, also called hectocotyli, is also its penis which a male octopus will use to mate at one or two years of age. The only part of an octopus that cannot move or squeeze through small spaces is its beak where it consumes food. This is used for biting and also breaking things apart. Did you know that octopi have three hearts? This is because these sea creatures have extra legs and three hearts are necessary for better bl...
...lifornia, they are found all over the world as long as there is an abundance of its prey.
Piatigorsky, Z., Kozmik. 2004.Cubozoan jellyfish: an Evo/Devo model for eyes and other sensory systems. Int J Dev Biol 48: 719–729
Welcome to the world of fish physics. Many of us understand basic fish behavior and can reach logical conclusions about where the best place to throw a fishing line is. But when we don’t think much further than that we are missing out on some very interesting details of fish behavior. We can never fully understand why we find some fish in one location and some fish in other locations until we consider the concept of fish bioenergetics. Ultimately, fish behavior is a product of bioenergetics. First, we will take a look at basic fish bioenergetics, understanding the underlying quantitative principles. Then, we will look at some examples of how physical forces, thermodynamics, and light characteristics are specifically related to fish bioenergetics. Most of these models and ideas are made under the assumption that there is no predation or competition, which are additional factors that will influence behavior.
The Documentary, Swimming South is a small clip from the show ‘60 Minutes’ which attempts to highlight the up and coming threat of a dangerous species of marine life, known as the Irukandji jellyfish. Using basic documentary techniques such as expert opinion, survivor recounts and compelling footage they are able to educate the public on the subject of Irukandji jellyfish migrating down the coast of Queensland. This documentary positions the viewer to be afraid of this unstoppable and undetectable monster which is ‘coming to a beach near you’.
Acanthaster planci, commonly known as the crown-of-thorns starfish, is an echinoderm that has attracted much attention and has been the focus of much research over the past few decades. Although the starfish has interesting physic...
people have little knowledge of the Blue Ringed Octopus, it is one of the most amazing animals
Chironex fleckeri is a part of the phylum Cnideria and is part of the class Cubozoa. It is most commonly known as the Box Jellyfish. It is most commonly found in Western Australia. The adult medusae stage is mostly found along beaches or in the mangrove channels. C. fleckeri is one of the most venomous animals in the world. This venom is important to study for pharmaceutical purposes. It is difficult to study the behaviors of C. fleckeri because it is difficult to keep them alive to study. The experiments that W.M. Hamner, M.S. Jones, and P.P. Hamner preform will help find out more about how C. fleckeri life in sea.
Sea wasp or other know it as box Jellyfish, appear boxed shape and or cube like. Their body is separated into two segments. Most of them have transparent bodies, while others have a body that is pale blue. Around sea wasp body structures are about fifteen tentacles on each end. Nematocysts cover the sea wasps which allow it to sting, and help with the capturing of prey; which consist of small fish and crustaceans. What make sea wasp unique are the four eyes. Although they have eye understanding what sea wasp sees is odd due, to them not having a brain. They due use their eyes to avoid small objects.
The Red King Crab’s scientific name is called Paralithodes Camtschaticus. The crab is the ancestor of the Hermit Crabs, and as well as many other crabs (A-Z Animals). The red king crab both live in Alaska, the Northern Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan, Northern Kamchatka, the west coast of North America, southern of Queen Charlotte Island, and the Southeastern Bering Sea. The adult red king crabs live in the Intertidal Zone and they prefer mud and sand. The king crab lives underwater on the sand, and have a lifespan for 20-30 years (Animal Diversity, Alaska).
The wasting syndrome is a disease that is killing off the starfishes, “researchers in Washington State first noticed signs of the so called ‘“wasting syndrome”’ in June 2013 during routine monitoring of [the] populations”(Scudellari, 2014, pg. 44-45). The wasting syndrome is where the starfish’s body is first drained of all its water (they have water instead of blood). Then, after it is drained of its water then the arms of the star start curl up and detach from the rocks. After that “white lesions appear, like festering canker sores” (Scudellari, 2014, pg. 44-45) and the major organs keeping the starfish alive explode and all the arms fall off, and the starfish dissolves into a gooey blob. This
However, very little is known about zebrafish biology, including their dietary requirements in wild environments. Diet is a critical factor in controlling health to maintain the population of zebrafish in research and to produce constant results from each individual. Diet can also be a critical contributor to changing physical composition as different diets affect animals differently in terms of body weight and length or height gain. Consequently, if future research uses different diets for the same species of animals, the result may contain unwanted nutritive bias and not account for otherwise controllable variability in these features (Spence, et al. 2007). This paper will review zebrafish diet, specifically covering natural diet, aspects of commercial and formulated diets, and physiological influence of diets