5 Fun Facts About Jellyfish

Source: Pedro Szekely

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By: Arya Gupta, Journalist

Jellyfish are interesting creatures that can be tiny, or large. They are not a fish, but instead categorized as invertebrate due to the fact that all fishes have backbones.  Here are some fun facts about jellyfish!

1)  Jellyfishes have been on earth for much long than we expected. They were around before dinosaurs were. Dinosaurs first appeared on earth about 230 million years ago. While studies show that jellyfishes have been around for at least 500 million years, many scientist believe that their time on earth is closer to 700 million years. Though many think for dinosaurs as the oldest animals they know of, that is very wrong.

2) Jellyfish have been in space! Back in the 1990s, NASA sent jellyfishes into space. They wanted to see how being in space would affect jellyfish born in space’s development. While overall they seemed to mature normally, when brought back to earth, scientists made a startling discovery. Those born in space were unable to sense gravity, and developed bad vertigo on Earth. Jellyfish and Humans both have calcium crystals to sense gravity, making scientists think human babies would have similar problems.

3) If you see a jellyfish washed up on the beach, it often looks like a simple blob. Most jellyfish, are around five percent of solid actual matter. What is the other 95 percent? Water. These animals have no heart, bones, or blood. Most jellyfish only have three layers. The outer most layer, the epidermis, is made up of something called a nerve net, which contains sensory neurons. The mesoglea, or the middle layer, is made up of a substance that is thick, and like both jelly and elastic. Finally, the gastrodermis has what would be considered a stomach, intestines, and a mouth.

4)  Jellyfish have some abilities that we all would wish to have. One of the most well know ones, is the ability to reverse aging. When certain species of jellyfish feel enough environmental stress, they can go back a stage in their life cycle. Imagine a fully formed butterfly, being able to turn back into a caterpillar. While many call these jellyfish immortal, that is not true. They can be eaten by predators, or be killed in another way. Still, there are many studies underway about how these abilities can make like easier, for you and me.

5) Jellyfish can sometimes clone them selves. In one of the early stages of their life, Jellyfish are called polyp; this stage can be long or short, based on when the animal feels they have the right circumstances to grow. In that stage, they can create clones of them selves. Another time jellyfish can make a clone is when some species feel lonely. It is unneeded to have a female and male for this to occur. What happens is that these beings use small pieces of flesh to create hundreds of little jellyfish. Sadly, some jellyfish have died from injuries after this process sometime in the past.

These are some facts about jellyfish, and animal like no other. Look at some of the links below for more infomation!

 

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