Anatomy Of A Jellyfish

They are well known for their swift and graceful movements through the ocean waters. The anatomy of a jellyfish is like no other free swimming marine animal.

A Jellyfish Anatomy Primer By Popular Demand

An interesting fact about jellyfish is that jellyfish do not have brains.

Anatomy of a jellyfish. They are composed of about 95 percent water. The body of a jellyfish features a central axis point. By contrast humans are about 65 percent water the high water content of jellyfish explains why they immediately collapse into defeated deflated blobs when removed from water.

Jellyfish often called jellies sometimes called jelly fish wrongly because of their soft gelatinous bodies and trailing tentacles are free swimming umbrella shaped marine animals which belong to the phylum cnidaria. Jellyfish can be transparent or brightly colored. Some species have even ditched a mouth entirely.

Among their many tentacles some jellyfish have parts known as oral arms. The anatomy of a jellyfish is very interesting to examine in depth. Each tentacle is covered with cells called cnidocytes a type of venomous cell unique to the phylum cnidaria that can sting or kill other animals.

Although its a bit hard to tell this texture is telling us that all of the points in the jellyfish are in the positive z blue direction and that the jellyfish itself is moving in the positive. Radial symmetry is present in this invertebrate. These jellies ingest food directly through openings in their oral arms.

The mesoglea is in between two protective layers the outer epidermis and the inner gastrodermis. It is composed of a gelatinous like structure called the mesoglea which helps provide support and structure for the animal frank and rinkevich 2013. Jellyfish are the simplest swimming animals on earth.

Illustration showing the anatomy of true jellyfish class scyphozoa. The body of an adult jellyfish consists of a bell shaped hood enclosing its internal structure and from which tentacles are suspended. These long appendages move captured prey to the animals mouth which is usually found on the underside of the bell.

A group of jellyfish is called a bloom or swarm. The jellyfish is a simple invertebrate but they are able to move better than others that fall into that same classification.

Jellyfish And Other Cnidarians