Clip Art Jellyfish

Clip Art Jellyfish

Jellyfish are gelatinous zooplankton from the Phylum Cnidaria. From an anatomical standpoint they are little more than a sac within a sac. Their body composition is 95% water. They do not have a brain, or even a central nervous system. They lack anything that remotely resembles a skeletal system. Most jellyfish do not even have eyes. Aside from eating, their only interaction with their immediate surroundings is the ability to distinguish between up and down, light from dark, or physical contact. Yet somehow their light sensory abilities allow them to perceive and maneuver around foreign objects.

Upside down jellyfish (Cassiopeia xamachana) are another member of the order Rhizostomae. The species name, xamachana, means Jamaican although their natural habitat is in no way exclusive to Jamaican waters. Populations exist throughout the Gulf of Mexico andCaribbean as well as along the coats of Florida. They are also present half way across the globe in the Pacific Ocean. Although not native to these waters, upside down jellyfish were introduced to the Hawaiian Islands during World War II most probably from jellyfish polyps attaching themselves to the underbellies of war ships coming back from the Philippines.

Clip Art Jellyfish