common jellyfish

Description:

The common jellyfish ranges in size from 25-40 cm and seems to be several different colours. I didnt notice any of the horse shoe shaped gonads that you can usually recognize in jellyfish which is unusual but everything else seemed to fit with A.aurita. They share space with fish of many kinds in Newfoundland at least, such as the many types of cod, arctic char, and if they go a little farther out to sea, they'll meet things like beluga whale. Common jellyfish live in a very large range of areas. They cant move very well and usually drift with the current even while swimming. It "breathes" by diffusing in oxygen by the thin membrane that covers its body and is able to expel low oxygenated water and and replace it with high oxygenate water. It has several tentacles which basically stun the small organisms it eats and takes them inside its bell were they are slowly digested.It reproduces by the females making eggs and holding them close to themselves while the males release sperm into the water. The females then catch the sperm and fertilize the eggs. After the eggs develop into larvae the female releases them and they are blown about on currents untill they find a hard surface to rest on. They then turn into polyps, bud, and eventually turn into jellyfish that will grow until they reach full maturity and then live only about two months afterwards. This is sexual reproduction even though until they reach maturity they dont really have a gender.

Habitat:

The common jellyfish is usually found in estuaries and harbors in more temperate waters with consistent currents. They eat small creatures such as mollusks and plankton. They usually end up on top of the water and as such are sometimes eaten by seabirds. However their main predators are ocean sunfish, leatherback turtles, and another larger species of jellyfish. even so, not much eats it in the bays and harbors where it is often found. They dont really effect the ecosystem much except for cutting down on small organism population i guess.