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World Jellyfish Day

World Jellyfish Day is celebrated every year on the 3rd of November. To celebrate this day most of the aquariums all around the world host a special jellyfish exhibit. Most importantly this day is used to promote awareness about jellyfish. 

There are so many people who love jellyfish though they are unaware of much details about this type of fauna. They attract people with their magnificent and colourful appearance. 

So who are these jellyfish? Let’s find out!

Jellyfish go by the scientific name Scyphozoa and belong to the kingdom Animalia and phylum Cnidaria. 

Despite their name jellyfish aren’t actually a fish because they are invertebrates or animals without a backbone. They have no brain, bones or heart. Jellyfish can squirt the water from their mouth. They eat and discard waste from the opening. Small fishes,  shrimps, crabs and small plants are the foods for jellyfish.  

Jellyfish are free-swimming marine animals with umbrella-shaped bells and trailing tentacles. Some of the jellyfish are anchored to the seabed by stalking rather than being mobile jellyfish.  Especially those tentacles are armed with stinging cells and also they are used to capture prey and defend against predators.  Jellyfish live in deep sea surfaces, all around the world. Jellyfish have a complex life cycle. Large and colourful jellyfish are common in coastal zones. The medusae of most of these species are fast-growing and mature within a few months then die soon after breeding. Jellyfish have been in existence for at least 500 million years. 

 Most importantly jellyfish stings can be painful to humans and sometimes can be dangerously deadly. But jellyfish do not purposely attack humans. In appearance, some jellyfish are clear and transparent but some of them are very colourful such as pink, yellow,  blue or purple. Most commonly we can witness jellyfish of luminus colours that can glow in the dark. There are over 200 species of jellyfish.

Let’s celebrate the World Jellyfish Day and protect these beautiful creatures of nature!

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