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now I have an argument to make, Jellyfish ARE NOT in fact fish!
I'm tired of a lot of people saying that Jellyfish are fish because they have fish in their name. No. They are in fact invertebrates, an animal without backbone. Some even believe they are made of jelly, but they are not so do not attempt to eat a jellyfish please. It may cause serious damage to your boy and even kill you. A better name for jellyfish is just plain jellies.
Their are a lot of different types of jellyfish, they can be from the size of a rice grain. They come in very different colors as well. Some even glow in the dark. Jellyfish have no face, no eyes, but they do have a mouth which is found at the bottom of their bell or umbrella shaped head. But the mouth is surrounded by possibly poisonous or stinging tentacles that draw in their food for them to consume. But some have no tentacles at all making them rather harmless.
Jellies are very strange animals indeed because of their strange anatomy, they have no brain, no heart, and no blood what so ever. But they get along fine with out them. They have nerves that depending on the species, may let them sense when they are touching something, whether they are right side up or upside down, whether they are in light or darkness, or even what odors are in the water around them!
They are in no way huggable! Do not hug! Imagine how hard it would be to catch food if you were a soft, squishy blob with no teeth or claws. That's how it is for jellies, so they have a secret weapon. Along their tentacles and sometimes also on their oral arms, they have tiny stinging cells called nematocysts. These contain even tinier harpoons full of venom. The venom can stun or kill prey. Though some kinds of jellies are harmless, others can give a nasty sting, and a few are even deadly.
Jellies are terrible swimmers as well. A jelly swims by squeezing muscles at the bottom of its bell. This pushes water away, gently moving the jelly in the opposite direction. Another way jellies get around is by simply drifting along with the ocean currents. Jellies don't stalk or chase their prey either. Instead, they swim or drift with their tentacles dangling beneath them. When a fish or other small creature bumps into the tentacles, it gets zapped by the jelly's stingers. Then the oral arms move the prey to the jelly's mouth.
Though most animals steer clear of jellies, some are actually jelly tagalongs. Certain fish and other creatures will use a jelly as a kind of bodyguard. For example, wearing a stinging upside-down jelly on its back can keep the crab (top right) safe from enemies. Other tagalongs stay close to a jelly or even ride inside its bell. There are different ideas about why the tagalongs aren't harmed by the jelly. For example, they may be covered with mucus that keeps the stingers from firing, or perhaps they are just careful not to touch the jelly's tentacles.
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