Arctic jellyfish - the largest jellyfish in the world

Jellyfish are one of the most interesting creatures living on Earth. Their body consists of watered mesogloea - a connective tissue, in appearance resembling a jelly.

The form of these inhabitants of the water element is reminiscent ofan umbrella or bell, a mushroom or a star, since these creatures have thin tentacles. Therefore, they received their name from the Greek word with the root "melas", which in translation sounds like "black stars" or "asters".

The biggest jellyfish is Cyanea capilata, also called giant cyanide, arctic cyanide, hairy cyanide or lion mane. It refers to sciFiedus.

In 1865 in the Massachusetts Bay wasthrown ashore after the storm a huge jellyfish. The diameter of her umbrella was 2.29 m, the length of the tentacles was almost 37 meters! Zoologists believe that among the arctic cyanides can meet the largest jellyfish with an umbrella diameter of two and a half meters and forty-meter tentacles.

Giant cyanide inhabits the northern partAtlantic and the Pacific, as well as in the Arctic seas. But the biggest jellyfish rarely approaches the shore, so few people manage to meet it. People, viewing the photos of the lucky ones, do not believe in their believability, considering the photoshop. However, such hulks are found in nature.

Moves the biggest jellyfish reactiveway, like their kindred. When the muscles contract from the umbrella cavity, water is sharply pushed out - this allows the jelly-like substance to move in the water quite quickly.

The color of the jellyfish body varies depending on itssize. Large individuals are red, brown, brown and even dark purple. On the edge of the umbrella there are tentacles (they are collected in eight bundles) and sensory organs. In the middle of the lower (concave) side is the mouth, surrounded by thin fringed oral lobes.

Eats the biggest jellyfish in the world of smallmarine life: plankton, crustaceans, mollusks, fish caviar and small fishes. It itself can also serve as a lunch for some large fish. Especially often small predators are eaten by sea predators.

The jellyfish paralyzes its victims with the poisonstinging cells on the tentacles. Inside the stinging cells, hollow, long strands are twisted in a spiral. Outside sticking little hair, which when touching it works as a trigger, the yarn is discharged from the capsule and bites into the victim. And already along the thread comes poison. The paralyzed and immobilized victim of the jellyfish slowly rushes to his mouth with the help of tentacles first, and then mouth blades.

It should be noted that the people of jellyfish do not themselvesattack - as an object of nutrition a person does not interest her. However, "burn" especially unguarded curious by its poison jellyfish is capable. These chemical burns, although not fatal, are quite painful, especially if the jellyfish is large in size.

The world's largest jellyfish reproduces in such a wayway. Males throw spermatozoa into the water, from where they penetrate into the body of the female and fertilize the eggs. Then the eggs develop into larval-planulas. After leaving the body of the jellyfish and swim for several days, the larva is attached to the substrate and transformed into a polyp.

As a polyp, this species of marine life multiplies by budding, forming daughter polyps. In the spring, the polyp turns into a larva-ether, and the ether gradually transforms into a jellyfish.