62 ANIMALS OF THE SEASHORE 



While jelly-fish are able to make some progress 

 through the water by their own power (by contract- 

 ing and expanding their umbrella), they usually 

 drift aimlessly, carried by the waves and currents, 

 and belong to the so-called plankton of the sea. 

 Their food consists largely of minute creatures of 

 the sea. 



A Jelly-fish is nearly 99 per cent water. This 

 can be observed by watching one dry on the beach in 

 the sun. After a few hours it will have almost 

 entirely evaporated. 



Cyanea capillata Fabricins (Jelly-fish, Sun Jelly) 



(C. artica Peron ami Lesueur) 



Fig. 5 



This is said to be the largest jelly-fish known 

 and sometimes reaches seven feet in diameter al- 

 though in New Jersey it rarely reaches more than 

 four feet. The umbrella is thick and blubber-like. 

 On the underside is the mouth from which hangs 

 four curtain-like structures. The tentacles are of 

 various colors and hang in eight distinct clusters 

 along the margin of the umbrella. 



This jelly-fish usually begins to appear in the 

 coastal waters off New Jersey in the middle of June 

 or early July. By the middle of July large indi- 

 viduals are frequently found cast up on the beach. 

 They are often rather rare in August but by the 

 middle of September they appear again in great 

 numbers and are often stranded on the beach during 

 the fall storms. 



Known from Arctic seas to North Carolina; 

 more common toward the north. 



