Sea Walnut, Rippenqualle (German) Venus' girdle, warty comb jelly, these are just some of the names for the Comb Jelly. This animal is “any member of a common genus (Mnemiopsis) of gelatinous, planktonic marine invertebrates of the order Lobata (class Tentaculata, phylum Ctenophora).” (""sea Walnut"." Encyclopædia Britannica.) Because of its pronounced abundance in estuaries in the heavily populated parts of the US and its precarious population growth after the 1980s, the Mnemiopsis Leidyi or Comb Jelly, is the most studied genus in the world. The Comb Jellies live a completely planktonic existence. They are considered circumglobal, oceanic distribution, meaning that they occur worldwide throughout the open ocean, but are most common
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They are often cast up on the shores of the Eastern Coast US, which is where its name originated. In the 1980s, the sea walnut was unintentionally introduced to the Black Sea via the ballast water of the ships and the Caspian Sea via the ballast water of oil tankers. Once the Comb Jelly settled in the Black Sea, it then spread to the seas of Azov, Marmara, the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean, inhabiting water of salinities ranging from 30% to 39%. The temperature they live in is 4 degrees Celsius in the winter and 31 degrees Celsius in the summer. There are many fascinating things about the Comb Jelly; one of them is their reproduction/life cycle. The Comb Jellies are a simultaneous hermaphrodite (having both male and female reproductive organs) species, can reproduce asexually and sexually, and are free spawning, meaning they lay many small eggs. The number of eggs adult Comb Jellies can produce a day, is 2-3000; although, that number can depend on the food availability and the temperature of the waters. If there is not enough food supply, the Comb Jelly produces fewer eggs and on top of that, they can shrink in size if food continues to be scarce Within the egg cover, the embryo is formed. …show more content…
Adults lack the conspicuous tentacles and their bodies are prolonged into eight lobes. The eight comb rows, which run longitudinally down the length of the animal, are comprised of thousands of parallel-fused cilia that beat synchronously with a metachronal wave, propelling them through the water. These hair-like cells are what give the Comb Jelly its scientific name, Ctenophore. The Greek work ctena means comb and phora meaning bearer. These animals are unique, in the way that they are the largest group of animals to cilliary movements, solely for means of transportation. A full grown Comb Jelly can reach up to 15cm (6in). Being 97% water, Comb Jellies are hardly visible. They are transparent, diploblastic, radially symmetrical hermaphrodites. Even though these animals have the name “Jelly” in them, they are not identical to the Jelly Fish, although there are some morphological similarities. First, they come from two different phylum’s; Jelly Fish Cnidaria and Comb Jelly Ctenophora Second, Jelly Fish have an aboral sense organ and colloblasts (sticky cells), whereas the Jelly Fish has nematocytes (stinging cells); making the Comb Jelly harmless to humans. Third, they have distinct structural traits, for example, Comb Jellies have eight rows of ciliated plates for locomotion, and there is an absence of tentacles around their mouth area. The comb plates on the animal, act as
They are often cast up on the shores of the Eastern Coast US, which is where its name originated. In the 1980s, the sea walnut was unintentionally introduced to the Black Sea via the ballast water of the ships and the Caspian Sea via the ballast water of oil tankers. Once the Comb Jelly settled in the Black Sea, it then spread to the seas of Azov, Marmara, the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean, inhabiting water of salinities ranging from 30% to 39%. The temperature they live in is 4 degrees Celsius in the winter and 31 degrees Celsius in the summer. There are many fascinating things about the Comb Jelly; one of them is their reproduction/life cycle. The Comb Jellies are a simultaneous hermaphrodite (having both male and female reproductive organs) species, can reproduce asexually and sexually, and are free spawning, meaning they lay many small eggs. The number of eggs adult Comb Jellies can produce a day, is 2-3000; although, that number can depend on the food availability and the temperature of the waters. If there is not enough food supply, the Comb Jelly produces fewer eggs and on top of that, they can shrink in size if food continues to be scarce Within the egg cover, the embryo is formed. …show more content…
Adults lack the conspicuous tentacles and their bodies are prolonged into eight lobes. The eight comb rows, which run longitudinally down the length of the animal, are comprised of thousands of parallel-fused cilia that beat synchronously with a metachronal wave, propelling them through the water. These hair-like cells are what give the Comb Jelly its scientific name, Ctenophore. The Greek work ctena means comb and phora meaning bearer. These animals are unique, in the way that they are the largest group of animals to cilliary movements, solely for means of transportation. A full grown Comb Jelly can reach up to 15cm (6in). Being 97% water, Comb Jellies are hardly visible. They are transparent, diploblastic, radially symmetrical hermaphrodites. Even though these animals have the name “Jelly” in them, they are not identical to the Jelly Fish, although there are some morphological similarities. First, they come from two different phylum’s; Jelly Fish Cnidaria and Comb Jelly Ctenophora Second, Jelly Fish have an aboral sense organ and colloblasts (sticky cells), whereas the Jelly Fish has nematocytes (stinging cells); making the Comb Jelly harmless to humans. Third, they have distinct structural traits, for example, Comb Jellies have eight rows of ciliated plates for locomotion, and there is an absence of tentacles around their mouth area. The comb plates on the animal, act as