Jellyfish are primitive, floating marine animals.  They have no backbone but they have muscle fibers and a central nervous system.  The round body is for flotation and the hanging tentacles are for trapping plankton or prey.

They are what's called "pelagic," meaning they live in the open ocean.  In the summer, they often swarm coastal waters, many washing up on the beaches to die. 

There are several types of jellyfish in our area.  The moon jelly is a translucent, milky white color or yellowish brown.  The NC Aquarium actually grows their own moon jellies, keeping them in a circular tank that continuously turns. 



The most common jellyfish here is the Cannonball Jellyfish, also known as the Jellybomb (I like that) or Cabbage Head.   It has a firm ball with a brownish band around the edge, translucent and as much as 8 inches wide.  It doesn't really have tentacles and its sting is not strong.






The Portugese Man-of-War is here as well.  It is blue, pear-shaped with long tentacles - up to 60 feet!  It is not really one animal, but a colony of
hundreds of organisms.  The toxins in the tentacles are injected into prey, like a bee stinger.  This sting is very painful.





Predators for jellyfish include the giant Ocean Sunfish and sea turtles, neither of which is bothered by the tentacle stings.