Like many questions in the world,
the exact answer to how did jellyfish get in the ocean eludes us... perhaps
because jellyfish have been in there for so long.
It
is believed that jellyfish evolved into what they are today from prehistoric
cnidrians and are one of the first multi-cellular organisms to exist on Earth.
Jellyfish are still considered a part of this classification. However, there is
much deliberation about whether jellyfish have ever evolved.
Many
scientists believe the jellyfish in our oceans today are the same jellyfish
that existed in the ocean 450,000,000 years ago and they have not evolved from
that point in time. Very little is known about where jellyfish came from or
evolved from, they are just simply there.
Science
has shown that jellyfish are one of the oldest organisms on the planet.
Fossilized remains of jellyfish have been discovered that prove jellyfish have
existed on this Earth for approximately 450,000,000 years. This means that they
existed in the waters on the planet way before dinosaurs inhabited the Earth.
The Unique Jellyfish
So,
just because we can't answer exactly how jellyfish got in the ocean doesn't
mean there isn't a lot to learn about jellyfish. For example, it is interesting
to note that there isn't just one type of jellyfish found in the ocean... there
are many. Jellyfish are fascinating in the sense that they are predatory, but
they lack what most predators have that makes them dangerous.
Below
is a list of characteristics that make the jellyfish unique:
- Invertebrates: This means the
jellyfish has no backbone and no skeleton.
- Make Up: Jellyfish are made up
of 99 percent water and one percent organic matter. They do not possess a
brain, a gut, or muscles. However, they do possess a nervous system and a
pair of rudimentary eyes.
- Color: Jellyfish come in many
different bright colors. These bright colors are meant to signify to their
prey that they are dangerous and they should be avoided.
- Shape: A jellyfish can come in
three different shapes that is denoted by the main part of their body,
which resembles a dome. The shape of a jellyfish can be either bowl
shaped, cup shaped, or parachute shaped.
- Tentacles: From the main
dome-shaped body, the jellyfish has tentacles that hand and resemble
cooked noodles. These tentacles can be as short as one centimeter or as
long as 120 feet. These tentacles are able to deliver venom through deadly
stings to their prey and sometimes, depending on the type of jellyfish, to
a human being. The jellyfish then uses these tentacles to maneuver their
prey to their mouth so that they can eat it.
- Life: Jellyfish can swim freely
through the water since this is what they are mostly made of. Most simply
move with the current. Jellyfish will live as long as a year as long as
none of their predators end their life prematurely. It is also imperative
that the jellyfish have salt water to survive.
These
unique animals are likely to continue living in the ocean for centuries to
come, all the while leaving people wondering just how these jellyfish got into
the ocean in the first place.
0 komentar:
Post a Comment
BUDAYA BERKOMENTAR SANGAT BAIK... AYO BERKOMENTAR!!