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Catch food with the whole of their
body
The number of jellyfish is
not only of importance when we go swimming. Mass occurrences
can obstruct cooling water intakes to certain types of
industries. Medusae can also fill fishing tackle and damage
them. They also, by eating fish eggs and larvae together
with plankton, that could have been nourishment for the
young fish spawn, jellyfish can inadvertantly affect the
amount of fish that are important for the fishing
industry.
The medusae of the moon jellyfish can eat most of the organisms
that exist in the open seas: for example plankton algae, single cell creatures,
other medusae, copepods and many other types
of larvae. The particle size of their food varies from a few hundreths
of a millimetre to more than 10 centemetres. The medusae can catch particles
with the whole of their body, but larger prey or prey that has a tendency
to flee, needs to be paralyzed or killed by its stinging cells.
The stinging cells (cnidoblasts) on the mouth
arms and tentacles of the moon jellyfish can kill or injure
their prey. In the middle of the picture can be seen one of the
eight depressions where the several
sensory organs are accumulated.
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