For animals that slide into the water without the benefit of sight, the jellyfish has survived remarkably well. In fact,
For animals that slide into the water without the benefit of sight, the jellyfish has survived remarkably well. In fact, in areas where overfishing and habitat destruction have reduced fish stocks are becoming the dominant jellyfish predators.
It turns out that jellyfish, despite its sluggish appearance, are equally effective in the hunt for food than its competitors with the fins. Can not move so quickly, but in a study published in the journal Science, the researchers found that jellyfish use their body to increase the size of their success in hunting. With their large bodies, water and long tentacles, which conserve energy by allowing the current guidance of their prey, said Jose Luis Acuna, author of the paper and a biologist at the University of Oviedo in Spain.
“To our surprise, the jellyfish predators as well as visually, the older fish, despite being slow and blind, because they play a different hydro-trick,” he said in an e-mail.
Dr. Acuña and his colleagues have found that eating jellyfish were also effective. They can not eat their prey as soon as the fish compete, but the jellyfish actually funnel the energy they get from their food into body growth. And you do not eat as much food, allowing them to endure months of starvation if necessary.
Dr. Acuña said the jellyfish were dominant in an area off the coast of Namibia, where the sardines have been overexploited, and in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Northeast Asia, where they replace a large stock of anchovies. If overfishing and habitat destruction in other parts of the world continues, Dr. Acuña said that the oceans can have a more gelatinous future in store.