What do you think off when you hear the name Cassiopea andromeda?  I think of an upside-down jellyfish that looks like a plant and has eight tentacles. What I know about this jellyfish is that it lives on the bottom of the ocean and eats anything that gets too close. I also learned that the way they can get away from their enemies is by stinging them with their tentacles.

 

Cassipean jellyfish are 30cm wide and 15cm long. The color of this jellyfish is blue and white. Their adaptation is to hide in the dark and camouflage in the seaweed.  They have eight tentacles. Their domes have blue and white stripes and their tentacles look like plants, called algae, and seaweed.

 

The population of this jellyfish is increasing. There used to be 220 in the Pacific Ocean and now there is twice the amount of them. There is about 442 in the Pacific Ocean. Cassiopean jellyfish eat anything that gets too close, likes small fish, or a remain of small fish floating in the water after something has killed it. It also eats plants and sea sponges. They can kill and eat their prey by first paralyzing their prey and then wrapping it with its tentacles.  Then they put it into its mouth, which is on the bottom of its dome.

 

Cassiopean jellyfish have many enemies. Their enemies are sea turtles, dolphins, and whale sharks. The way they can protect themselves from their enemies is by stinging them or hiding in the dark. What the sting can do to the predator is it can kill it, hurt it, or just tell the predator to leave it alone. This jellyfish can evade being eaten in the dark because the predators can't see it.

 

The thing that stood out to me the most is the way this jellyfish can eat and evade being eaten. I learned that they are 30cm wide and 15cm long. I also learned that they have eight tentacles that are very useful. Another thing that I learned is that they live on the bottom of the ocean and can camouflage in the seaweed. Another thing that stood out to me the most is that another name for this jellyfish is the Upside Down jellyfish because it swims upside down.    

 

Author: Daniel G.

Date: February 19, 2013 

 

Sources:

 

“Cassiopea Andromeda.” University of Malta. 12 Feb. 2013. http://www.um.edu.mt/research/scienceeng/cassiopea

 

“Cassiopea Andromeda.” Introduced Marine Species of Hawaii Guidebook. 12 Feb. 2013

http://www2.bishopmusuem.org/HBS/invertguice/species/cassiopea_andromeda.htm