How to Identify a Harmless Common Moon Jellyfish
lthough you like the fish that swim around you and the beautiful conch shells abandoned by their hosts, moon jellyfish may be your favorites, with their mysterious, translucent appearance and graceful movements. However, you may be wary about getting too near them, however, because you can't tell them apart from their more dangerous man-of-war cousins.
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Instructions
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Look at the jellyfish's size and coloring. These marine creatures are eight to 18 inches in diameter, and are the most common type you'll encounter in the wild since their habitat is worldwide. The most distinctive feature of a moon jelly is its clear, white bell-shaped head.
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Take into account other distinctive features of the jellyfish. Their head contains four reproductive organs at its center. Numerous short tentacles descend from this bell to catch and paralyze plankton, their main source of nourishment. In addition to the organs and tentacles, these jellyfish also have four arms underneath the bell which transfer the plankton to its stomach.
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Visit them in a controlled aquatic environment such as a local zoo, aquarium or university that offers a major in marine biology. Try to successfully tell moon jellies apart from other types. Pay particular attention to the color of the four organs in their bells: either yellow or pink in younger ones and blue or purple in adults.
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Test your identification skills even further when you're in their natural environment. If you see a jellyfish washed up on the beach which bears the characteristics of a moon jelly, it's harmless. By the time it reaches the shore, its tentacles, which is where the mild sting comes from, are gone. Use more caution in the water.
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Tips & Warnings
For identification help, talk to a staff worker or marine biologist at a zoo, aquarium or university.
Avoid touching jellyfish in the water; even moon jellyfish give slight stings.
