A Double Funeral and a New Working Theory

 The inevitable (at least in my opinion) happened and two of the three jellyfish scrunched up their bells for the last time. The first one just disappeared and my daughter couldn't find him. He had gotten so small that we both theorized that he had gotten wedged into the filter media somewhere. He was pretty much written off at that point until the second one died. The bell shape part of it had grown so microscopic that it was nearly impossible to see. All that remained were four long legs and finally, the food stopped sticking to them and so there was no way for it to feed the microscopic stomachs in the bell that we couldn't see. I didn't rush my daughter to make any decisions but after a few days, the legs got stuck to the back wall and she deemed it dead. 

On a side note, how one deems a jellyfish dead isn't as easy as I thought it might be. No pulses or mirrors in front of mouths to see if it still breaths. In fact, if all you can see is legs and those legs gently move due to water currents or impulses from an invisible head, it is quite hard to determine which is which.

My daughter separated out the dead jellyfish and gave the tank a good cleaning for the one remaining and in that process, found a lump of food in the corner along with a clear binding substance. She thought that might be the remains of the first jellyfish but because it was much too small for even her young, sharp eyes to see in much detail, it was only a guess. It too got scooped up and put in the jar with the other dead jellyfish. We found a tree outside down the hill and buried the remains at the base with a few rocks to mark the location. 

The one survivor barely has a head too. I guess essentially their heads are their fat reserves, much like the pot belly of a middle aged man or the thighs and butt of a middle aged woman. When they don't get enough to eat or are stressed enough to not digest what they do eat, they use up their fat reserves. But in the case of a jellyfish, their stomachs are in the middle of this fat reserve and eventually it gets to a point where there is no return. Their stomachs are too small to accept food anymore. My daughter insists that the one remaining jellyfish though is still able to get some food into it's stomach, which since they are translucent, one can see if they have good eye sight. So perhaps their is hope for the lone survivor.

Which brings me to the new working theory. We bought jellyfish food as part of the initial kit and it came in a small glass vial with a cork stopper. It is essentially a fine brownish powder that my daughter partially dissolves in some water and squirts into the tank. It adheres to their legs which they then curl up and somehow move into their stomachs. While cleaning the tank in preparation for the funeral, she smelled the food in the original glass vial and another one in a small plastic pouch that also came with the kit. (I'm guessing the plastic pouch was for a standard kit and since we got the deluxe kit (which included chemicals to maintain the tank that the standard kit does not), the glass vial food is actually part of the deluxe kit. Regardless, the smell between the food in the glass vial and the here to with unsealed plastic pouch of the same food was remarkably different. The food in the glass vial definitely had a much stronger and more pungent smell. This leads us both to the theory that the jellyfish food definitely has a shelf life and can probably go bad. Bad enough that it led to the two former jellyfish being unable to digest it and essentially starving themselves to invisibility. 

My daughter is now feeding the one remaining jellyfish from the plastic pouch food and threw out the remainder of the food in the glass vial. We'll see if we can get the remaining jellyfish to start putting more fat reserves back into their head.

Comments

  1. Interesting info. Didn't know they were so sensitive. Makes you wish there was an expiration date on the food containers. Sorry for the losses. Your daughter has put in a lot of effort for the cause. Linda in Kansas

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It definitely is a learning process. In the end, I think the life lessons are invaluable and I'm glad we went this route.

      Delete
  2. I had no idea their fat reserves were in their head. Nor, frankly, that one could keep jellyfish outside of a rather complicated set up (as was the case, long ago). Thanks for sharing this snippet of your journey.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just one in a infinite long list of things we take for granted until forced to pay attention.

      Delete
  3. This has to be the wildest, weirdest read in a blog of someone I know EVER. I hope the last jellyfish survives, Ed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Although it has been eating, it did lose a leg this afternoon so it is probably not very good odds.

      Delete
  4. I missed the acquisition of the jellyfish, so maybe you've written about this before -- but are you sure they're jellyfish and not freshwater hydras or something like that? In which case they may go through a phase when they anchor themselves and change shape. Maybe they're not dying but just transitioning?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are indeed moon jellyfish and evidently are found in a variety of ocean waters and can live in various salinities. If you check out the wiki page:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelia_aurita

      they look exactly like the pictures and not like hydra.

      Delete
    2. Ah! I only asked because I once found freshwater jellyfish in the lake behind our house in Florida, and they turned out to be these:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craspedacusta_sowerbii

      Apparently they enter a dormant phase in winter months. (They're also not hydra, though. I don't know why I was thinking that's what they were.)

      Delete
    3. They definitely don't look like what my daughter has. It only has four long legs and not the multitude around the bell. I also don't think it was simply dormancy because they actually started falling apart, i.e. legs falling off after they died. The last one died this past weekend so perhaps after a vacation we had planned anyway, she can try again with some new jellyfish and hopefully get different results.

      Delete
  5. I like the problem solving and learning that's going here. I never would have imagined that jellyfish would be so complex!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your daughter is learning about the diligence and hard work required to raise living things. She sure picked a difficult one!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You may be growing a biologist in that house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She does have an interest in biology for sure.

      Delete
  8. I have learned more about jellyfish on your blog, Ed, than I could have ever imagined. Sorry to hear about the loss but I hope your working theory is correct and the last one can thrive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it wasn't too late to start with. It is still hanging in there as of this comment though it lost a leg yesterday.

      Delete
  9. I know it's a learning process, but a shame the first batch have become guinea pigs. Can one thrive on its own, or do they need to have companionship?

    (hoping third time's the charm since neither of my attempts to comment yesterday worked!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since they lack all but the most rudimentary of senses, I'm guessing they don't need companionship or even know that there were other jellyfish there earlier.

      Delete
  10. That is so sad! I hope your survivor makes it. Will you be looking for a companion for it? Do jellyfish like companions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think so. They have no eyesight or sensory nerves. These essentially just float where the water takes them and eat what the water gives them. If we do get more jellyfish, it will be after the holidays and a family vacation.

      Delete
  11. Sad but interesting. I've had lots of pets growing up, but never a jellyfish

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To me, a jellyfish as a pet seems as odd as say a porcupine.

      Delete
  12. I think I mentioned before that this reminds me of Will Smith's movie with the box jellyfish 'Seven Pounds'. We always get the jellyfish warnings in Hawaii 9-12 days after the full moon. I'm sorry for your daughter's disappointment. It was certainly a learning experience for all of you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had to google that up but I have seen that movie though it was a long time ago. Reading the plot to refresh my memory makes me want to watch it again.

      Delete
  13. Who knew? I'm learning a lot about jelly fish.

    I imagine she is too, albeit the hard way. I would definitely be writing a letter of complaint.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think we are going to try again after the holidays but from a different source this time that gets much better reviews.

      Delete

Post a Comment