A fried egg jellyfish, also known as the fried-yolk egg jellyfish, is about 60 cm, (24 inches) in diameter, although the tentacles can be up to 6 m, (20 feet) long! The coloration on a fried egg jellyfish is a yellow spot in the large bell-like shape. Because the fried egg jellyfish has no arms, it has to have some way to eat, how they eat is the use of mucus, or tentacles, help to traps particles, or zooplankton.

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The tentacles are covered with thousands of nematocysts. Nematocyst is a stinging cell, nematocysts is a characteristic that is found in the phylum, Cnidaira. (Jellyfish, coral, and anemones). To identify a Phacellophora camtschatica, look for 16 large lobes that also contains smaller lobes which contain 25 clusters of tentacles. The fried egg jellyfish range is in the Pelagic, Alaska to southern California. The diet of a fried egg jellyfish is small fish and small crabs. The competition for food between these animals isn’t that big of an issue. The only “people” they compete with would be other jellyfish. Because the decline of green sea turtles, the fried egg jellyfish are very common along with other jellyfish nowadays. The diet of a fried egg jellyfish is small fish and small crabs. The competition for food between these animals isn’t that big of an issue. The only “people” the compete with would be other jellyfish.

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What really stood out to me about this animal was that it has several different names which can be really confusing when looking up information. Also when you type in fried egg jellyfish, a lot of times egg yolk, or how to cook fried eggs come up in your search. I learned that jellyfish are “overpowering” the seas taking away a lot of human activity of beaches, especially in Spain and the Mediterranean Sea. Over all, I think this animal is very interesting to study. If you want to see the animal in person, you can visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

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Author: Emily G.

Published: 02/2008

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Sources:

http://www.nwmarinelife.com/htmlswimmers/p_camschatica.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phacellophora_camtschatica http://www.nwmarinelife.com/htmlswimmers/p_camschatica.html

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Photo Credit: © 2000 Rafael Bejar