Living in the Baltic Sea

Average size
25-40 cm /0,12 kg
Average age
6 months, record age less than a year.
Record size & age
Not available

Habitat
Habitat Pelagic, near coastal areas in temperatures of 6 - 30° C. Their habitat includes the coastal waters of all zones and they occur in huge numbers. They swim by pulsations of the bell-shaped upper part of the animal. Swimming mostly functions to keep the animal near the surface of the water rather than to make progress through the water. They swim horizontally, keeping the bell near the surface at all times. This allows the tentacles to be spread over the largest possible area, in order to better catch food.
Food
They feed on plankton, fish larvae, crustaceans and single cell organisms. They anesthetize their prey using their burning threadlike tentacles. These are too weak to harm humans.
Spawning
Age: About 2 months
Season: Spawning takes place in the spring and summer. After reaching adult size, they are able to reproduce daily if there is enough food, most often at dusk or dawn.
Number of eggs: N/A

The first phase is the familiar Medusa form, floating stage when they reproduce sexually. Floating males and females produce tiny larvae that settle on the sea floor where they develop into a stationary Polyp. Here, they begin an asexual stage, reproducing by budding off juveniles which grow into floating jellies. This capacity to produce numerous floating forms can result in dense aggregations of jellyfish close to shore.


Human impact and Status
Jellyfish blooms can cause problems for mankind. They bring about severe or complete declines in commercial fish stocks, destroying fish nets, poisoning or crushing captured fish, consuming fish eggs and young fish, as well clogging engines of ships. In waters where there is eutrophication, low oxygen levels often lead to an increased number of jellyfish who thrive in less oxygen-rich water, which some fish cannot tolerate. The Moon Jellyfish is not currently a threatened species.

Jellyfish are often used as symbol of the beauty and fragility of the oceans despite their somewhat destructive nature. CLOSE