Arctic cyanide is the largest jellyfish in the world's oceans. The largest jellyfish in the world (photo)

The world's largest jellyfish is the arctic cyanea, also known as the hairy cyanea or lion's mane (lat. Cyanea capillata, Cyanea arctica). The length of the tentacles of these jellyfish can reach 37 meters, and the diameter of the dome is up to 2.5 meters and is the longest animal on the planet.

Cyanos is translated from Latin as blue, and capillus - hair or capillary, i.e. literally a blue-haired jellyfish. This is a representative of the scyphoid jellyfish of the order Discomedusae. Cyanea exists in several types. Their number is a subject of dispute between scientists, however, two more varieties are currently distinguished - blue (or blue) cyanea (suapea lamarckii) and Japanese cyanea (suapea capillata nozakii). These relatives of the giant “lion’s mane” are significantly smaller in size.

The Atlantic cyanea, according to experts, can reach a diameter of up to 2.5 meters, in comparison with the blue whale, which is a popular example when designating the longest animal, can reach 30 meters in length, weighing about 180 tons, then the claim of the giant cyanea the title of the longest animal on Earth is quite understandable.

Giant cyanea is a resident of cold and moderately cold waters. It is also found off the coast of Australia, but is most numerous in northern seas Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, as well as in open waters Arctic seas. It is here in northern latitudes, it reaches record sizes. IN warm seas cyanea does not take root, and if it does penetrate into softer climatic zones, then it does not grow more than half a meter in diameter.

In 1865, a huge jellyfish with a dome diameter of 2.29 meters and a length of tentacles reaching 37 meters was thrown onto the shore of Massachusetts Bay (the North Atlantic coast of the United States). This is the largest specimen of giant cyanide, the measurement of which is documented.

The body of cyanea has a variety of colors, with a predominance of red and brown tones. In adult specimens upper part the dome is yellowish, and its edges are red. The oral lobes are crimson-red, the marginal tentacles are light, pink and purple. Juveniles are much brighter in color.

Cyans have many extremely sticky tentacles. All of them are grouped into 8 groups. Each group contains 65-150 tentacles inside, arranged in a row. The dome of the jellyfish is also divided into 8 parts, giving it the appearance of an eight-pointed star.

Cyanea capillata jellyfish are both male and female. During fertilization, cyanea males release mature sperm into the water through their mouths, from where they penetrate into the brood chambers located in the females' oral lobes, where fertilization of the eggs and their development occur. Next, the planula larvae leave the brood chambers and swim in the water column for several days. Having attached to the substrate, the larva transforms into a single polyp - a scyphistoma, which actively feeds, increases in size and can reproduce asexually, budding from itself daughter scyphists. In the spring, the process of transverse division of the scyphistoma—strobilation—begins and the larvae of ethereal jellyfish are formed. They look like transparent stars with eight rays, they do not have marginal tentacles or mouth lobes. The ethers break away from the scyphistoma and float away, and by mid-summer they gradually turn into jellyfish.

Most of the time, cyanea hover in the surface layer of water, periodically contracting the dome and flapping its edge blades. The tentacles of the jellyfish are straightened and extended to their full length, forming a dense trapping net under the dome. Cyaneans are predators. Long, numerous tentacles are densely packed with stinging cells. When they are fired, a strong poison penetrates the victim's body, killing small animals and causing significant damage to larger ones. The prey of cyanides is various planktonic organisms, including other jellyfish; sometimes small fish are caught that stick to the tentacles.

Although Arctic cyanea is poisonous to humans, its poison is not so powerful as to lead to death, although one case of death from the poison of this jellyfish has been recorded in the world. He can call allergic reaction and a skin rash may appear. And at the point where the jellyfish’s tentacles touch the skin, a person can get a burn and subsequent redness of the skin, which goes away over time.

Creatures Sea inhabitants differ in shape, size, color and behavior. In populations sea ​​creatures, having impressive dimensions, one of the leading places is occupied by the most big jellyfish in the world, the photo of this beauty is probably familiar to many.

Atlantic cyanea lives in temperate and cool waters Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic seas. Sometimes it can be seen off the coast of Australia. IN warm water The jellyfish does not grow to a large size or does not survive at all. But in the cold northern sea ​​depths it reaches impressive sizes:

• main body – 2.5 meters;
• peculiar tentacles - 35 meters.

Appearance

Jellyfish is very beautiful. The outer part of the dome has a darkish tint, consisting of brown and dark red stains. The older the individual, the richer its body. Young cyanides have a bright orange color interspersed with brown shades.

The body of the jellyfish is divided into 8 parts, resembling petals in shape. Pink and purple tentacles are located in groups of 50 to 120 pieces along the border line of the petals. Each tentacle is equipped with a set of stinging cells, which gives it the ability to quickly kill its prey.

All the time the jellyfish hovers in the water, contracting the muscles of the dome and making occasional flapping movements with its wings located at the edges.

According to the researchers, the jellyfish is presented in several species, but no one was able to clarify their number; disputes continue to this day. On at the moment Blue and Japanese cyanides have been studied, but they are much smaller in size than the Atlantic.

Reproduction

The cyanea jellyfish is female and male. Males in mating season They fertilize females through water. Sperm released from the oral passages swim into openings on the female’s body, intended for bearing offspring. The finished larvae spend several days swimming freely, after which they attach to the substrate. From this moment their growth begins. With the arrival of spring, they detach and swim away to feed on their own. The babies look like stars with a transparent body and the absence of marginal tentacles. In summer, cyanea fry form into fully developed jellyfish.

Nutrition

Cyanea belongs to the species of predators. The jellyfish keeps its numerous tentacles spread out, forming a trapping net. The creatures hunt plankton and fish fry. The largest jellyfish in the world has a genetic predisposition to cannibalism - it can eat small relatives; a photo of developed tentacles indicates the ability to instantly kill small prey and cause serious damage to large animals.

The largest jellyfish in the world, a photo of which will help you recognize it when you meet it, is not particularly dangerous for humans. The maximum harm that cyanea can cause is a burn that goes away quickly and an allergic reaction to toxic substances, injected upon bite. Deaths after an encounter with a jellyfish was not recorded.

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Are you also looking forward to a vacation to spend it at sea? No matter how much we love to carelessly splash in its waves, we should not forget that danger may be hidden in them. Namely, jellyfish - often cute, but mercilessly stinging. And although they consist almost entirely of water, the stinging cells of many of them contain poison, which is injected into the victim faster than a bullet flies. So it’s time to find out which jellyfish you shouldn’t approach even for the sake of beautiful picture and what to do if you do get stung.

We are in website chose 10 dangerous jellyfish, whose poison can provoke a serious allergic reaction and can even be dangerous to health and life. Hopefully you won't have to encounter any of these jellyfish. But caution won't hurt.

sea ​​wasp (Chironex fleckeri)

Typically, an individual reaches 30 cm in diameter, and its 24 tentacles can be up to 2 m long. The sting of sea nettle is extremely painful and leaves a rash and It's a dull pain, but at least these jellyfish are not life threatening.

Where it occurs: coast North America, Atlantic and Indian oceans.

Irukandji (Carukia barnesi)

The Portuguese man-of-war, also known as physalia, is not even a jellyfish, but a whole colony of polypoid and medusoid individuals. Under a small beautiful bubble are hidden very long “tentacles” - in fact, these are polyps covered with stinging cells with deadly dangerous poison. Their length can reach 10 m. Physalia move in groups of up to 100 colonies, and sometimes resorts have to close entire beaches because of them.

Where it occurs: tropical seas, but often appears in temperate seas.

Cornerots (Stomolophus meleagris)

This is one of the largest jellyfish in the world: its diameter reaches 2 m, and it can weigh about 200 kg. Nomura are dangerous not only because they are poisonous, but they also damage fishing equipment. There is a known case when a fishing boat was sunk because of them: jellyfish clogged the nets, and the crew could not cope with them.

Where it occurs: Far Eastern seas of China, Japan, Korea and Russia.

Pelagia nocturnal (Pelagia noctiluca)

The jellyfish can emit light in short bursts and its colors range from pink and purple to gold. They are often washed up on beaches by waves, as they live near the shore. Although jellyfish are small (6-12 cm in dome diameter), they sting painfully, and their venom causes burning, inflammation, an allergic rash and leaves blisters.

Where it occurs: Mediterranean and Red Seas, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

What to do if you are stung by a jellyfish?

Everyone knows very well that in absolutely every species of vertebrate animal one can find the most distinguished representative, who for one reason or another became a record holder. But not only vertebrates are distinguished by some peculiarity.

Invertebrate animals are also not inferior to their vertebrate “brothers” in terms of records. One of such outstanding invertebrates is considered to be the giant cyanea jellyfish.

Giant sea miracle

Hairy cyanea- This is undoubtedly the largest jellyfish in the entire body of water in the world. This is truly a gigantic sea miracle. Scientifically speaking, the invertebrate is called Cuanea arctica. WITH Latin language it translates to "Arctic cyanide". You can meet this majestic creature in the heights northern hemisphere. Compared to its counterparts, Arctic cyanide has a beautiful color. The pink-purple cyanea jellyfish can be observed in any northern sea that flows into the oceans:

• Quiet.
• Atlantic.

As a rule, it lives close to the shore, mainly near the surface of the water. Scientists who studied the giant jellyfish assumed that it lives in the Azov and Black Seas. But all attempts to discover Arctic cyanide there were in vain.

The enormous size of the invertebrate giant

According to the results of the latest study carried out by members of the Cousteau team, we can say that the diameter of the so-called body is about 2.5 meters. But the main pride of the Arctic cyanide is associated with its tentacles. Incredibly, the length of these truly majestic limbs can reach 42 meters. Researchers around the world have come to the conclusion that the size of the Arctic cyanide is directly influenced by its habitat. More precisely, the temperature of the water in that place. It has already been proven that the largest specimens live in icy waters ocean.

Appearance

This species of invertebrate has a rather specific and interesting body color. Mostly the body of Arctic cyanide consists of flowers:

• red;
• brown;
• violet.

As the jellyfish matures, its body gradually begins to turn yellow. And along the edges of the body red shades appear. The tentacles emanating from the edges of the body, or domes as it is also called, are predominantly purple-pink in color. Oral cavities are usually red-crimson. The dome of the giant jellyfish is shaped like a hemisphere. Along the edges of the body, there are 16 smoothly transitioning blades, separated from each other by special cuts. Some people compare it to a lion's mane. Indeed, there are similarities. And so another name was attached to this giant, the “lion’s mane” jellyfish.

Lifestyle

Jellyfish of this species spend a lot of time swimming freely, living closer to the surface of the ocean. By nature, the lion's mane jellyfish is a predator. Moreover, it is very dangerous and active . Her diet mainly consists of:

• plankton located in upper layers water;
• crustaceans;
• small fish.

During the “hunger years”, when jellyfish cannot find food for themselves, they can long time exist without food. But it often happens that they transform into cannibals and begin to devour their fellows.

Until recently, the hunting method of this jellyfish was unknown. . Arctic cyanea, floats to the surface of the reservoir. Spreads its huge tentacles in all directions. After preparatory stages, the time of waiting for its victim begins. Scientists who studied the behavior of a jellyfish during hunting noticed that in this position it is very similar to algae, which, in turn, is similar to a lion’s mane. This is one of the reasons why the Arctic invertebrate is called the lion's mane jellyfish.

The victim, suspecting nothing, heads towards these “algae”. As soon as the prey touches this “lion’s mane,” the predator quickly grabs it with its tentacles and injects its poison into the prey’s body. This poison paralyzes all the vital organs of the victim, and when it no longer shows any signs of life, the jellyfish eats it. It is worth noting that the poison produced is present along the entire length of the tentacle and has a strong effect.

Reproduction

These invertebrates have a unique method of reproduction. The sperm of the male splashes out of his mouth into the female's mouth. After sperm enter the female’s mouth, it is there that they begin to turn into embryos. After some time, the offspring emerge from the mother in the form of larvae. The larvae begin to cling to the substrate, forming a solid polyp. After several months, the resulting polyp multiplies. Due to this, larvae appear, which in the future will become jellyfish.

To this day, the largest specimen caught that has been officially recorded is an invertebrate of this type diameter 2.3 meters. The length of the tentacle of the giant creature was 36 meters. This phenomenon happened in 1870, near the state of Massachusetts. But this is far from the largest aquatic inhabitant. With the help of modern equipment, scientists have discovered that there are, where larger size representatives of this species. But so far no one has been able to see this majestic miracle.

The burn that a jellyfish can leave is very painful. Large specimens This type of invertebrate is considered potentially dangerous to humans. Fatal outcome, after an encounter with a jellyfish, was recorded once. This was because the venom from the tentacle caused an allergic reaction in the victim, which was fatal. Although the venom of the lion's mane jellyfish is practically harmless to humans, if it enters the body, you should consult a doctor.

Jellyfish are one of the most interesting creatures living on Earth. Their body consists of watered mesoglea - connective tissue, By appearance reminiscent of jelly.

The form of these inhabitants water element resembles an umbrella or a bell, a mushroom or a star, since these creatures have thin tentacles. Therefore, they got their name from the Greek word with the root “melas”, which translated sounds like “black stars” or “asters”.

The largest jellyfish is Cyanea capilata, also called giant cyanide, arctic cyanea, hairy cyanea or lion's mane. It belongs to the scyphojellyfish.

In 1865, a huge jellyfish washed ashore in Massachusetts Bay after a storm. The diameter of her umbrella was 2.29 m, and the length of the tentacles was almost 37 meters! Zoologists believe that the largest jellyfish with an umbrella diameter of two and a half meters and forty-meter tentacles may be found among them.

The giant cyanide lives in the northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as in the Arctic seas. But the largest jellyfish rarely approaches the shore, so few people manage to meet it. People, looking at the photos of the lucky ones, do not believe in their verisimilitude, considering them to be Photoshop. However, such hulks do occur in nature.

The largest jellyfish moves in a reactive manner, like its relatives. When the muscles contract, water is sharply pushed out of the umbrella cavity - this allows the jelly-like creature to move quite quickly in the water.

The color of the jellyfish's body changes depending on its size. Large individuals come in red, brown, brown and even dark purple. Along the edge of the umbrella there are tentacles (they are collected in eight bundles) and in the middle of the lower (concave) side there is a mouth, surrounded by thin fringed oral lobes.

The largest jellyfish in the world feeds on small plankton, crustaceans, mollusks, fish eggs and small fish. She herself can also serve as lunch for some big fish. Especially often eaten sea ​​predators small individuals.

The jellyfish paralyzes its victims with poison located on its tentacles. Inside the stinging cells, long hollow filaments are twisted into spirals. A small hair sticks out outside, which, when touched, acts as a trigger; the thread is thrown out of the capsule and digs into the victim. And already the poison comes through the thread. The jellyfish slowly guides the paralyzed and immobilized victim into its mouth using first its tentacles and then its oral lobes.

It should be noted that jellyfish themselves do not attack people - they are not interested in humans as a food source. However, a jellyfish is capable of “burning” a particularly careless curious person with its poison. These chemical burns, although not fatal, are quite painful, especially if the jellyfish is large.

The world's largest jellyfish reproduces in this way. Males release sperm into the water, from where they penetrate the female’s body and fertilize the eggs. The eggs then develop into planula larvae. After leaving the body of the jellyfish and swimming for several days, the larva attaches to the substrate and transforms into a polyp.

As a polyp, this species of marine life reproduces by budding, forming daughter polyps. In the spring, the polyp turns into a larva - an ether, and the ether gradually transforms into a jellyfish.