User:Hannahcooksey4/Cyanea capillata

Cyanea capillata or, also commonly known as, the lion's mane jellyfish, the giant jelly fish, arctic red jellyfish, or the hair jelly. The nickname "giant jelly fish" says it all for this is species of jellyfish is one of the largest of its kind.

These jellyfish can vary in size depending on their latitudes (lower latitudes result in smaller size), but still hold the capability of reaching diameters of over 2 meters.

The species also varies in color throughout different life stages. For example, juvenile Cyanea capillata are lighter orange while younger generations are usually colorless and adults reach the final color stage of red. The adult coloring of red ties in with the nickname of "arctic red jellyfish," while the "arctic" title comes from the species being found within a geographic range from the Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, North Sea, and Baltic Sea.

Reproduction:
Like most species of jellyfish, the Cyanea capillata has the ability to reproduce both sexual in the medusa stage and asexual in the polyp stage. The sperm and the egg are stored within the jellyfish's tentacles and, when the time is right, the male jellyfish with create a cloud of sperm. the sperm will then find its way into the female jellyfish's mouth to later develop into eggs to begin the larval stage. These eggs were given the name of "planua" by scientists. Cyanea capillata have 4 stages after the production of planua: larval, polyp, ephyrea, and medusa.

Larval Stage
The female jellyfish carries with eggs within its oral tentacles where the eggs will soon grow into larva. The first functional development of the larva are cilia.

Polyp Stage
Once the larva stage is met, they settle onto a substrate to grow into polyps which are able to begin to reproduce asexually. Cyanea capillata reproduce asexually by horizontal division. This means that during the polyp stage they create small disks within each division forming "stacks" of a new species called ephyrea.

Ephyrea Stage and Medusa Stage
The ephyrea begin to detach from the stack built by the polyp once they are fully developed ephyrea. Eventually the species progresses into the recognized medusa form of a fully grown Cyanea capillata.

Predators
With any reproduction of a species comes with predators that typically feed on the juveniles-- Cyanea capillata are no different. Seabirds, large fish, other jellyfish species, and sea turtles are main predators of the Cyanea capillata, but will only attack the jellyfish during their juvenile stages. This is due to their small size during younger stages for as the species grows older, they reach incredible sizes that makes them incapable of being consumed.

Feeding
The diet of a Cyanea capillata consists of: zooplankton, smaller fish, ctenophores, and moon jellies. The method of capturing their prey is by sinking slowly while its tentacles for a circle around their desired species. Once the prey is fully enclosed within the tentacles, it is stunned by the nematocysts.

Ecology
The Cyanea capillata are slow moving creatures, reaching speeds of up to several km per hour, who rely on ocean currents to move them along at a faster rate. With this being said, because this species is so reliant of ocean currents, the Cyanea capillata stays very close to the surface-- no more than 20 m depths. As mentioned before, Cyanea capillata are cold water loving creatures which is why you will find them within ranges from the Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, North Sea, and Baltic Sea.

Human Contact
With this jellyfish having the ability to be so close to the surface of the ocean, human contact is a common occurrence. When a human is stung by a Cyanea capillata it causes temporary stinging pain followed by redness on the skin where the tentacles made contact. Typically, if a healthy individual is stung with a few of the Cyanea capillata the sting will not be fatal and can even be soothed by house products such as vinegar. However, if contacted with a large number of this jellies tentacles, medical attention is needed as systematic effects can be present. Besides this rarity, Cyanea capillata are no real danger to humans and can continue to coexist!

Conservation Status
Cyanea capillata are in no danger of extinction.

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