What Do Jellyfish Eat?

Most jellyfish are into eating frozen baby brine shrimp or live baby brine shrimp. In the wild, jellyfish’s main diet would be brine shrimp.

Jellyfish can also consume certain kinds of dried planktonic foods.

To provide further nutrients, it is prudent to feed jellyfish live baby brine shrimp together with dried food.

Let us delve into a certain type of marine animal. Shall we? The jellyfish has an umbrella-shaped body. These bodies are made up of bells and tentacles. Let the name not fool you, they are not regarded as a type of fish.

Many might not be mobile at all. They hold on to the seabed by different stalks. The bell is a part of their body that is used to propel it. Motion is aided by these bells.

Jellyfish do not have the heart, eyes, and brains as most animals do. Despite all this, jellyfish have quite some interesting facts. Let us enumerate some of these facts. We shall look broadly at some of them in this piece.

Some facts you may not know about the jellyfish:

• There is a type of jellyfish that can kill a human being
• Most of the jellyfish body is made up of water
• A group of jellyfish can have three different naming
• A jellyfish can sting
• Jellyfish like the name suggests is not a type of fish
• Some types of jellyfish are edible
• There is an immortal type of jellyfish

What do jellyfish eat? Before we can look at this interesting question in broad about the jellyfish, it is good if you understand the different types of it. There are amazingly so many types of jellyfish in the world. We have more than 2000 of them.

Jellyfish Eating and Feeding

When it comes to survival, jellyfish can feed on absolutely anything that comes on their way. They are predators and have to hunt for what to eat.

Most of the jellyfish species feed on fish. It is Ironical, right? You might ask yourself how a jellyfish feeds on fish. Remember, we said that jellyfish is not a fish species. It is a marine animal. Keep that in mind.

Some jellyfish can eat a lot. Not just small fish but big fish. They are capable of feeding on an entire fish whether large or small.

How do the jellyfish hunt and kill? The tentacles have that purpose in mind. They use them to kill the prey. This is done through stings using the tentacles. Most tentacles have poisonous stings.

The ability to kill fish and other animals for meals is the norm of survival. Sometimes, they can kill and eat. But sometimes, the size of the animal or fish might be too big for them. They can leave behind dead prey.

Jellyfish have mouths. They use these mouths to eat and feed. This is a hole that is found underneath the body. The hole might be favorable when they feed on small fish or it might be too small to feed on big dead prey.

The food is placed in the hole, which is the mouth using the tentacles. The tentacles push the food through the mouth. This can only happen if the food fits in the mouth just underneath the bell.

Do jellyfish hunt? It is quite hard for an animal without eyes to hunt. What will they be hunting? Jellyfish cannot seek food. They simply hold on to planktons and float. Some feed on these plankton types of food.

Moreover, they can move through propulsion to go and attract food. Like we earlier mentioned, they will use the 4 to 8 arms to capture food. This food is captured from the tentacles. It is then directed into the mouth.

Feeding Process of The Jellyfish

Catching the food

The first step of any feeding process is the availability of the food. The tentacles have the purpose of catching the food. These tentacles are very long. These planktons stick to the tentacles and that is how they get caught.

The plankton can easily be caught by the tentacles from far. This is because the tentacles are very long. They can go up to 100 feet. This depends on the type and species of the jellyfish.

Hunting as we can refer to it is rather passive. This means that it is simply accidental. The jellyfish finds itself around the plankton through the various motions. The propulsion is random since jellyfish have no sense of direction.

The poisonous nature of the tentacles is what kills the prey. The poison can kill immediately or can take time to do so. Paralysis is the process that this poison uses. Then after the prey is paralyzed, it dies.

Feeding

Jellyfish use the oral arms to direct food into the mouth. The oral arms are not tentacles. The arms are small and shorter. They grab the food from the tentacles and nicely direct it to the mouth.

The mouth is situated underneath the bell. The mouth is placed at the center of the body of the jellyfish. The mouth is directly joined to the stomach. This means that, once the food is placed in the mouth, it is directly placed in the stomach.

Digestion

Once the food enters the stomach, digestions should take place. The stomach of the jellyfish lacks a lot in terms of the normal digestive systems. Jellyfish stomachs have no pancreas and intestines.

Coelenterons is the process that breaks down the food in the stomach. This is a similar process done with intestines in the normal digestive systems. This involves the availability of enzymes in the jellyfish stomachs.

After the food is broken down, the nutrients are directly digested into the body. This is done through the cells in the jellyfish’s stomach. Jellyfish species have no blood or blood flow. They also have no blood vessels. No circulation of blood exists in jellyfish.

Defecation

We have the anus for defecation in many animals. Jellyfish have none. The anus is used to get the waste from the body. The jellyfish use the same way of feeding to defecate. They use the mouth to throw out the waste from the stomach.

How is this even possible? Jellyfish takes a lot of water in and out of the stomach. The water that it gushes out is also used to carry the waste from the stomach and throw it out.

The jellyfish can only feed again after one process is done. Once the waste or feces is thrown out, the stomach becomes empty and is ready for another process of feeding.

What Do The Jellyfish Eat?

We have touched on some of the food that these jellyfish eat. But let us look closely at these foods that make them survive. One thing you need to know is, the food that jellyfish feed on will depend entirely on their size.

The size emphasizes on the jellyfish. Although, we mentioned above that the size of the prey matters too, let us focus on the size of the jellyfish. This means that there is some difference in the types of food eaten by the big jellyfish and the small jellyfish.

The big jellyfish

Using their stings, big jellyfish can kill big organisms. As long as these organisms touch the tentacles, they get poisoned. They die and are ready to eat. The process of getting it into the mouth also counts.

These are large foods and they need largemouths for consumption. Some of the organisms and food are eaten by big jellyfish are named below:

• Crabs
• Plants
• Lobsters
• Shrimps
• Other small jellyfish

Funny that these big jellyfish can feed on the small jellyfish right! Does this term the bigger jellyfish as cannibals? I do not think so, why? This is because jellyfish have no eyes. They also have no brains to determine what to eat and what to not eat. They even do not see what they eat.

The small jellyfish

They are carnivorous. They feed on all tiny or small organisms in the water. When you lack small fish in seas and big water bodies, the reason might be the existence of these small jellyfish.

The only challenge faced by jellyfish on feeding on small fish is the brain and eyes challenge. Small fishes have eyes and can figure out when in trouble. They tend to hide and run away from these small jellyfish.

The only advantage jellyfish can get is when they swim together in millions. Abloom which refers to millions of jellyfish together can confuse and trap a lot of small fish. Some of the foods fed on by small jellyfish are named below:

• Plants
• Small fish
• Plankton
• Fish eggs
• Tiny water orgasms

Can Jellyfish Eat Humans?

Yes, in terms of killing. It might be complex when we talk of literal eating. The complexity is brought about by human size. Most jellyfish species cannot swallow very big things like human beings. But, very poisonous jellyfish species like the box jellyfish can kill human beings with a single string.

To some people, jellyfish are scary. They tend to appear like imaginary creatures. If you are not used to them, they might be hard to mysterious and hard to encounter. The shape and design of their bodies can be terrifying to many.

To others who are used to these creatures, their view is fascinating. Some can easily get past the fear of them. Are jellyfish harmful to human beings? How can they affect or harm human beings?

Reminder, jellyfish can sting using their tentacles. Can their sting hurt human beings? The question that you should ask yourself first is how any human being can get in touch with jellyfish. Where are they located?

Where can human beings find jellyfish?

It is quite hard for human beings to casually interact with jellyfish. Not many people get the chance to move around the oceans and seas. The few who do so might also have rare chances of even seeing these creatures.

Jellyfish live around oceans and big water bodies. They are animals that love to the bottom of the oceans. It is not easy for you to find your way to the bottom of the ocean. And if you do, it might be rare.

Sometimes these jellyfish exist near the surface of the oceans. This is the best opportunity to get close to them. The lack of vision and brains means that the currents of the oceans trigger their movement.

They tend to follow the tidal waves and current of the oceans. You never know where you might meet some of them in the deep seas. These jellyfish live better in warm water, which is tropical. They also love the cold arctic water.

There are specific places where you can find them in the world. The only challenge is the tendency to follow ocean currents. The currents tend to dump them at any point in the oceans. It might be so hard to track them.

If you are lucky, you might get to see dead jellyfish on the beaches. Strong ocean currents can dump some of these jellyfish on the beach. They eventually die due to a lack of oxygen on the beach. Jellyfish can only breathe seawater oxygen through their bodies.

Some of the specific places you can find jellyfish are fisheries. In China, there are a lot of them because they use them as meals. They are reared and killed for food. If you happen to go there, you can learn a lot about them.

Jellyfish sting

Jellyfish can sting with their tentacles. The tentacles have plenty of cells on them. These cells are called cnidoblasts. The cnidoblasts have threads called nematocysts that can sting.

In case jellyfish touch or find something to attach to, including human beings, the threads coil through the pressure inside the nematocysts. The cells then sting by springing out. These cells sting like pins as they release venom into the prey.

This venom is of the neurotoxin kind. This type of venom can easily paralyze living things. The venom can easily kill the prey. These are tiny fish and other small living organisms found in water.

Effect of the stings to human beings

Experts have confirmed that a jellyfish sting is not fatal to humans. Yes, it can cause pain and the level of the pain might depend on the type or species of the jellyfish.

The jellyfish stings can also cause rashes, muscle cramps, and even fever. Remember, these stings commonly occur on the beaches. The surmising fact is, tentacles can sting when on the jellyfish or even when they are separated from it.

Other Effects of jellyfish stings

There are other effects of jellyfish stings. They include;

• Raised welts – These are raised bumps on the face or skin of human beings. They are skin infections brought by about by allergy. It is symbolized by tiny spots on the body. Jellyfish stings can cause such a feeling
• Nausea – This is the feeling brought about by infection or disease. It is the feeling of sickness with the urge to vomit. Jellyfish stings can produce such feelings.
• Vomiting – This involves the action of emitting or food from the stomach. This normally happens abruptly and unplanned. You can vomit as the effect of the sting takes place in your body.

Other effects of jellyfish stings are enumerated below;

• Diarrhea
• Lymph node swelling
• Abdominal pains
• Numbness/tingling
• Difficulty in breathing
• Coma

Death

This is the most fatal effect of jellyfish stings. We have very poisonous species of jellyfish that kill fast. The venom they produce can easily kill any living thing within a few minutes. Jellyfish have contributed to many deaths of people across the globe through this sting.

It is always advisable to consult a medical officer immediately after jellyfish stings. First aid is important but you should rush and consult a medical practitioner. You can easily avoid this brutal misfortune.

The most dangerous and killer jellyfish is the sea wasp. It is made of a bell close to the size of a basketball. Tentacles are close to 10ft. it is believed to have killed many people through its sting.

The sting from this jellyfish can kill a person in 2 to 5 minutes. It is very poisonous and poses the biggest threat to human life.

Care and treatment of jellyfish stings

It is always good to remove these tentacles from the skin once you have been stung. You are not advised to wash the stung area with water. This is because the venom might find its way into the body more.

The best way to treat the area is by applying alcohol. This can greatly help in sterilizing the area to avoid further spread of the venom. Rub the alcohol around the area after removing the tentacles.

You can also use ammonia and vinegar. These are good sterilizers that can help neutralize the venom from further spread. You are allowed to use any other known sterilizers as fast as possible before the deep spread of the venom.

Urine can also be used in such circumstances. Urine can neutralize the effects of the jellyfish venom. This can apply in circumstances that your sterilizers are far away from your destination.

Other elements you can use are; meat tenderizer and baking soda mixture.

Certain reactions may need medical attention. Allergic reactions such as hives, wheezing and breath shortage are some of these reactions. You should hurry up with such reactions for they pose a threat to human life.

How Do Jellyfish Catch Food?

Jellyfish can catch food using their long tentacles and oral arms. How do these two work to help it catch food? Let us look at the crucial information that explains this answer.

Food location

The most important fact on how this jellyfish catch food is to understand how they locate this food first. Without the eyes and the brain, this seems like an impossible task. How then do they locate food?

In this piece, we have slightly discussed this question. But, let us expound on it further. Jellyfish rely so much on the current of the ocean for movement. The winds in the deep seas can also come in hand as motion is concerned.

This helps them try to locate food. They can catch anything that comes in its way. The random motion of these jellyfish can help them attach to a lot of foods in the deep ocean.

We have jellyfish that can swim vertically. This does not consider the size of the jellyfish. Whether small or big, they swim comfortably and try to attach themselves to food.

Arms, tentacles, and mouth

These comprise the primary parts of catching jellyfish food. These components are mainly used in catching and directing the food into the mouth of the jellyfish. The tentacles are always long and stingy.

The tentacles are used to trap the food. This involves stinging the prey with venom. The venom in turn paralyzes the prey. The prey then dies instantly when the jellyfish is from the dangerous species. It also takes a few minutes if the venom is from the normal species.

After the food is ready, the arms pick it from the tentacles and place it in the mouth. The size of the food matters. If it is bigger than the mouth hole, then it becomes hard for the jellyfish to swallow. If it is smaller than the mouth hole, the arms place the food into the mouth which goes directly to the stomach.

There are larger jellyfish though they have perfected the art of food catching. Most of them consume large chunks of food that are as big as their bodies. They have long powerful tentacles.

These types of jellyfish have very poisonous venom. This venom can paralyze the prey easily. They can wait as long as possible until the prey is fully paralyzed. They then consume the prey once it’s dead or fully paralyzed.

The tentacles are purposely meant for stinging. The jellyfish can sting anything that it comes into contact with. Tentacles have no power to know what and when to sting. They only act on the power of sensitivity of the jellyfish.

Once the jellyfish senses anything, the tentacles are used to sting it. It does not know what and when to sting. As long as it has the feeling of touch, everything else follows.

Medusa tentacles/arms

These are tentacles that have no branches. If at all they will have very few branches. They are naturally straight. These long straight features are masculine. The nematocysts are planned in line with the tentacles.

Linear Nematocysts tend to offer a strong grip. This grip is on larger prey that needs enough strength to paralyze slowly. The few cluster nematocysts tend to offer a weak grip on smaller prey.

Some of these tentacles have claws at the tip. Other species use dangling tentacles to attract their prey. Some of the medusa species do not have true tentacles; instead, they have nematocysts on the oral arms.

Siphonophore tentacles

These species also depend on the tentacles for prey capture. The only difference with the medusa species is the independency of these tentacles. Each tentacle works on its own. However, these tentacles must work together for better food capture.

They use the curtain style alignment to capture their prey. The prey is captured once they drive directly into the tentacles. This linear curtain arrangement pattern creates a large surface area to capture prey. This is better than individual tentacles working alone.

Ctenophore tentacles

These are complicated tentacles. They differ from the medusa and Siphonophore type. They appear in two different forms. This is the feathered type and oral tentacles. The feathered type appears in pairs while the oral ones are simply straight.

We have species in this category that have teeth. The cilia lining in this species forms teeth-like structures. They use these sharp large objects to bite their prey

Salp filter species

The Salp filter types have no food capturing tentacles. They use a completely different method of food capture. They are referred to as herbivorous jellyfish. They use sticky mucus to filter tiny plants. They entirely feed on plants.

The mucus forms a net structure. This net structure filters small particles of these plants. This is the capture method they use to feed themselves.

Do Jellyfish Eat Crabs?

Yes, jellyfish eat crabs in the seas and oceans. The larger jellyfish are naturally carnivorous. They feed on the small sea snails. They also feed on crabs and any other small sea and ocean organisms.

Let us broadly discuss some specific information about the crabs. This information will help us try to validate the answer to the above-mentioned question.

Crabs are sea creatures. They are crustacean in type. This means that they have no backbone. Crabs are also covered with a hard shell. Most of them have five pairs of legs. The back half pairs are used for crawling around.

The funny part of the crabs is the front pair of the legs, they are claws. These claws are used for protection. They are also known as pincers. The pincers act as a weapon of protection.

Just like the jellyfish, the crabs have a way of hunting. They catch prey and feed on them. They can pinch with their claws and kill their prey.

Types of crabs

Pea crab

These are tiny crabs. They have the smallest size in all types of crabs. They got this name due to them having the same size as the pea. They have a length of 6 to 13 mm.

They love to stay and hide inside shells. They do not have shells but hide in other animals’ shells. They love to hide in shells of the following marine animals; clams, oysters, and mussels.

They are normally hidden most of their time. This is to avoid being messed by predators.

Japanese spider crab

These are the largest crabs in the world by size. They are mostly found in Japan. They have a length of about 15 inches. The legs are also very long. The legs revival the body length and can go up to 12 feet from one side to the other.

The larger the body the heavier the crab, this applies to this species of crabs. They weigh up to 44 pounds of weight. Well, this makes them dangerous water animals.

Red sea crab

These species falls in the middle of the pea crab and Japanese crab in terms of size. They can obtain an average of 11 inches in length. The name reflects its red color.

They migrate yearly because of reproduction. They are mostly found in Australia during the time of the year. They move in the oceans and deep seas when they won’t lay eggs. Generally, they walk in large groups.

Are crabs poisonous like jellyfish?

No, crabs are not poisonous. However, there are a few species that can carry toxins. Most crabs are not poisonous and are used as food by human beings. Crabs cannot produce venom like most jellyfish.

The ability to produce poisonous stings and bites only belongs to the jellyfish. The crabs cannot do that. Some crabs can however produce toxins when consumed by human beings.

Jellyfish versus the crab

The structure of a jellyfish is a complicated one. It gives it an edge over the crab. They say a jellyfish is immortal because the body is a colony of organisms. If you crash a jellyfish, the pieces can survive separately. The pieces can continue growing and live on.

Unlike the crab which is a sea animal. Crashing a crab can kill it and discontinue its life. Moreover, a sting from the crab is not poisonous and can only cause pain.

In a battle between the two, the jellyfish have high chances of destroying the crab. Jellyfish have strong poisonous stings. Once the jellyfish stings, the crab will get paralyzed with time and die. It will then be swallowed.

Strong enzymes in the jellyfish stomach will breakdown the digestible parts of the crab and defecate the remains. On the other hand, the crab can only sting. Stings cannot kill a jellyfish as long it is in water.

How Often Does A Jellyfish Eat?

There is no specific number of times that a jellyfish should feed in a day. A jellyfish only feeds when it catches food and has no ongoing digestion sequence in the stomach. You need to know that most jellyfish species are heavy-eaters.

Factually, jellyfish feeding purpose is purely for growth. A jellyfish feeds so that it can increase in size. The more jellyfish feeds, the bigger they grow and vice versa. They can survive for very long times without feeding.

Jellyfish are also good at saving and storing energy. They can use the movement of ocean currents to move from one point to another. They can also use the prevailing winds. In turn, they save energy for other activities, hence, less feeding.

As earlier on discussed, the ability of jellyfish to get food depends on its movement. Jellyfish have no options to pick from as how often to feed. Jellyfish have no schedules as they have no probable food in the plan.

Factors that determine the feeding program of jellyfish

Digestion period

The digestion period of a jellyfish is unpredictable. Once food enters the jellyfish stomach, breakdown starts. It is not certain how many hours or days a jellyfish can take to breakdown different types of food.

There are easy foods to breakdown and hard food to breakdown. Sometimes, jellyfish can feed on indigestible foods. They can also feed on small organisms or large organisms.

All these food types have different digestion periods. Soft foods take less time to digest while hard foods take longer to digest. The indigestible foods cannot digest however long they last in the stomach.

When the jellyfish feeds on small organisms, it might take less time to digest while large organisms take longer time to digest. These factors can dictate the period which a jellyfish will take to feed.

The faster the digestion period the easier it is for a jellyfish to feed again. The harder and longer the digestion period, the harder it is for a jelly feed again.

Availability of food

Without brains and eyes, jellyfish can struggle at times to find food. The feeding uncertainty that comes with the jellyfish makes it very hard to determine the feeding program of the jellyfish.

If the jellyfish exist around the habitat of many small organisms, it is very easy for them to feed often. A jellyfish can feed several times in a day if the food is available. Certain parts of the ocean carry a lot of prey for the jellyfish than others.

In the case of jellyfish lands in waters without these foods, then it is bound to starve. Jellyfish can’t feed at all if there is no food to catch. The availability or lack of food can determine the feeding pattern of jellyfish.

Type and size of the food

Different species of jellyfish feed on different types of food. We have the carnivorous species and the herbivorous ones. The jellyfish that feed on plants can do so continuously and often. This is because plants are broken down easily.

The situation differs from carnivorous jellyfish. This is even tricky when it comes to large carnivorous jellyfish. These feed on large prey that takes time to kill and feed on. The digestion of such food might take time too.

This means that the times that herbivorous jellyfish take to feed, differs greatly with the number of times carnivorous jellyfish take to feed. This factor greatly affects the feeding cycle of these jellyfish.

We see that jellyfish have been branded as killers. Well, they are poisonous and can kill many organisms including human beings. But, the ability to feed on these prey depends greatly on the size of it.

The size of the mouth hole determines if the jellyfish can feed on the prey or not. Big sized prey cannot fit in a small-sized mouth. This means that food can be available but no feeding activity and vice versa.

Jellyfish movement

Any movement that jellyfish make translates to the search for food. Food is the biggest reason that would make jellyfish move from one point to another. Though jellyfish do not hunt, this motion can be referred to as hunting.

Most jellyfish species move with the flow of water currents and wind. If by any chance, the movement of these water currents translates to the equal movement of organisms in water, big chances are that jellyfish can catch a lot of food.

Also, if the movement of these jellyfish lands them in less-organism infested areas, it translates to less feeding patterns.

Sometimes, more movement translates to more hunting, hence more food and more feeding. Less motion might translate to less food, hence less feeding.

Well, you cannot determine the feeding pattern of these jellyfish. The above-mentioned factors throw this probability in disarray. But, domesticated jellyfish reared for various purposes might oppose these facts. In this setup, you can easily determine how often a jellyfish can feed.

Where Do Jellyfish Live To Easily Find Food?

Jellyfish can live anywhere in the world with sea or ocean waters. This is the basic condition for the existence of jellyfish. There are many other reasons why jellyfish would choose to stay at certain specific places.

There are many species of these jellyfish around the globe. Finding the best place to live depends on the species involved. Different species prefer different conditions of a given area in the ocean waters.

Jellyfish are known to adapt to various existing conditions. This has made jellyfish exist in various places without favorable conditions. This reason almost assures you that they can exist anywhere in the ocean.

Let us look at different factors that might affect the location of jellyfish. Remember, the habitat of these jellyfish entirely depend on the species involved. Different species of jellyfish exist in different conditions.

Factors that determine the habitat of jellyfish

• Cold arctic water versus warm tropical waters factor
• Bottom versus surface factor
• Far-shore versus near-show factor
• Temperature change factor
• Availability of food
• Movement ability
• Bloom formation factor
• Adaptability factor
• Water pollution factor

The existence of thousands of jellyfish species makes it hard to determine specific habitat for jellyfish. They can find their favorite spots and settle. One species might find certain locations good for them but another might find the same location unfavorable.

The oceans have a vast surface area and volume. The waters are both cold and warm in different sections. The jellyfish can adapt to all these places. Some species exist in both these areas.

The ocean waters can be dirty and dark in some sections. We have jellyfish that can survive well in such conditions. We even have species that produce their light. They are known as bioluminescent. They love such waters to attract their prey.

We also have oceans with clear clean waters. We have clear and colored jellyfish species that can survive well in this type of condition.

The natural forces make oceans the favorite place for jellyfish. Things like storms, tides, and ocean currents are very important. These forces help jellyfish a lot in terms of their movement.

It is important to note that these forces do not just push the jellyfish horizontally; they also help them move in deep waters and sometimes up to the surface. Some species love living in deep waters and others that love living close to the topwater surface.

We have some jelly face species that like to live close to the shores. We also have those that like it deep in the water bodies.

Temperature levels too differ with species. Species like the moon jellyfish would love a water temperature of 48 to 660F. But, their high adaptability to other conditions allows them to survive at a temperature level of 21 to 880F.

What about fisheries and aquariums?

Domesticated jellyfish species have to be handled by experts. The experts have to understand the species reared and their favorable conditions. Not every species can be reared at home and survive the different habitat conditions.

Generally, jellyfish can survive and live in natural ocean waters. It is the species themselves that find the favorable habitat locations.

How Do Jellyfish Poop?

Jellyfish use their mouth or hole to poop. The hole or mouth is found underneath the bell. This is at the center of the body.

We looked at the digestive system of the jellyfish in this piece earlier on. But, to answer the above question, let us remind ourselves of how the digestive system of the jellyfish work.

The jellyfish as earlier on mentioned has no anus. The anus is used by many living organs to remove waste material from the body. The jellyfish does not follow that normal known system. it follows a unique procedure.

Also remember, we said that jellyfish catch anything that comes their way. So, digestion might be of any kind of thing found under the oceans. These facts make the digestion quite complicated.

Using the tentacles, the jellyfish can catch these foods with easy and with the help of the oral arms direct it to the mouth. The mouth is used to directly pass the food to the stomach.

The stomach of the jellyfish can then undertake the function of breaking the food into nutrients. This is done through the many strong enzymes found in the jellyfish stomach.

After the process of breaking the food into nutrients is done, nutrients are absorbed into the body through the stomach walls. The remains become waste and should be removed out of the stomach.

The mouth has another very important function of taking water in and out of the stomach. This function is the main aid of removing poop from the jellyfish. Jellyfish poop comprises of the undigested and unbroken food materials left in the stomach.

The waste is left after all the digestion process has taken place. The jellyfish has to clear the stomach such that a new feeding pattern is initiated. When jellyfish poop, it does not necessarily mean that it has fed.

With the tendency of swallowing anything, the jellyfish might swallow undefeatable and unbreakable materials. This will force the stomach to try and break it down. The materials can only be removed after failed attempts of digestion.

This is a failed feeding cycle. Yes, the jellyfish swallowed what might have looked like food but the digestion process never took place. The nutrients were not absorbed in the body. The jellyfish remains just like it were before swallowing the material.

Jellyfish can only poop when a digestion process has been finished. Without the jellyfish feeding, no waste will be formed in the stomach, hence no poop to remove.

The water in the stomach helps pushes the poop out. This is done again using the mouth hole. That is the same mouth hole that was used to swallow the same food. The mouth serves the purpose of getting food in the stomach. It also serves the purpose of removing wastes from the same stomach.

How Do Jellyfish Eat Seaweed?

Jellyfish do not feed on seaweed directly. They might feed on them indirectly. This is done through a certain food chain.

Jellyfish are widely known to be carnivorous. In that, they mainly feed on small animals like fish and crabs. This means that jellyfish are predators. The nature of their tentacles can only allow them to eat living organisms.

Seaweed popularly refers to the species of marine algae. These plants grow in the sea and they are mostly made of red, green, or brown color.

Seaweed can comfortably be eaten by crabs, sea urchins, seal, sea turtles, lobsters, crayfish, and many other sea creatures. They are used by these animals as food. They give the animals a lot of nutrients and energy.

The jellyfish as much as it eats everything, might at times be consuming seaweed indirectly by feeding on these small animals. Jellyfish can feed on many of these sea animals. The smaller species of sea animals can easily be consumed by the jellyfish.

The smaller fish and crabs are the best examples that jellyfish feed on. These form part of the food chain that brings out the consumption of seaweed.

These tiny sea animals and organisms feed on the seaweed. Then, in turn, the jellyfish feeds on these animals for survival. The feeding process of the jellyfish makes it very hard for it to directly feed on the seaweed.

Do Jellyfish Eat Algae?

Yes, small jellyfish eat algae.

Algae are found in oceans and big water bodies. They are usually made of green coloring. They also possess other many colors. The algae manufacture their food.

Examples of algae include; giant kelp, diatoms, Euglenophyta, and dinoflagellates. They require a lot of moisture and water to grow. They resemble plants but lack the structural components of plants.

Algae can be fed on by small jellyfish. Other ocean animals that eat algae are; crabs, urchins, fish, snails, and other many more ocean animals. The alga sits on top of the food chain. This means that we have animals that feed on algae and in turn are fed on by other animals like the jellyfish.

This happens because the smaller jellyfish cannot afford to eat most of the bigger organisms. They also consume other smaller planktons.

Algae can also be soft food for these smaller jellyfish. The digestion of this food takes less time. Algae might not be the best-preferred food but it is easy to get and find by this smaller jellyfish.

There are species like the upside-down jellyfish; they depend on the algae for carbohydrates. These carbohydrates help then not need many other foods.

What Eats Jellyfish?

Jellyfish can be eaten by human beings. They can also be consumed by other jellyfish species. They can also be consumed by the following marine animals;

• Sharks
• Salmon
• Tunas
• Swordfish
• Sea turtles

Whenever jellyfish overcrowd and fill the place in the ocean, they might find it hard to get food. The large population creates massive completion for food. This in turn turns themselves against each other.

It is very easy and fast for large jellyfish to eat the smaller jellyfish. This also matters with the species involved. There are specific species that eat other jellyfish species. It is good for population control of these jellyfish to be controlled in given areas.

Humans especially in Asia consume jellyfish. Certain species can be used as food at home or in restaurants. Not all species of jellyfish are edible. Sometimes they act as ingredients in some foods.

Other species do not serve the food purpose, as they cannot be eaten. But, they can be used as sources of various nutrients. They can provide proteins.

They can also be used to make antioxidants and other minerals. These minerals include selenium and choline. They can depict the presence of collagen. This collagen can be used to reduce blood pressure.

Keeping Jellyfish At Home

You can keep jellyfish at home and learn all the above-discussed items with ease. It is quite easy to keep these ocean animals at home. The only concern to keep in mind is the stings.

You can keep them in the aquariums. The biggest challenge is how to do it. There are various things needed to keep them alive and kicking. Remember that these are ocean animals brought at home.

First, you will need to buy the jellyfish tanks. They should be huge and spacious to enable these long tentacle animals to move with ease and comfort.

The Species that you keep at home aquariums should carefully be considered. Not all the species are for keeping at home. The moon jellyfish is the best species to keep at home.

What will the jellyfish eat at home?

You can afford to buy foods for the jellyfish sold in outlets. They are dried foods. These foods are also powdered and in pellets. These foods are healthy and can keep the jellyfish healthy and comfortable.

Examples of jellyfish foods that you can buy include; frozen rotifers, live baby brine shrimp, and frozen Mysis shrimp.

How do jellyfish reproduce?

The jellyfish reproduce in the water environment. The females release the eggs in the water. The male fertilized eggs hatch inside the water.

After some time, a planula emerges that can swim and move. It finds somewhere to attach itself and does so. The surface might be the seafloor, rocks, or on another organism like another jellyfish.

It is then left to grow into a polyp. This can take several months or even years to grow into a small jellyfish. This process continues until it is full-grown into an adult jellyfish.

The reproduction of jellyfish keeps increasing every day. Overpopulation is taking over with these jellyfishes. Their ability to exist for many years has led to the increase. Can we control the increase?

It is very hard to control the increase of these jellyfish in ocean water. The ability of most of the species to stay in deep ocean water makes it hard to control. Their ability to move from one area to another makes it even harder.