The Fried Egg Jellyfish's bell looks like a sunny-side-up fried egg. The center of the bell (yolk) is raised slightly and can be up to 2 feet in diameter. The outside of the bell is more flattened and is a creamy yellowish color.
Fried egg jellyfish live in the Pacific Ocean from Chile to the Gulf of Alaska. They also live throughout the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. They prefer to be alone and don't swarm. The only time these jellies are together is if they all get caught in the same current.
They don't do much, they're lazy swimmers. They can swim when they need to. Their bell pulses as they move.
Their lifespan is only half a year. They usually hatch from their eggs in the summer months and die by the winter of the same year. Despite their short lives, they are important to the marine ecosystem...by eating plankton (algae, protozoa, small crustaceans and fish larvae. This helps prevent overcrowding of these microorganisms. Crustaceans are named after the Latin word
crusta, which means
shell.
Jellyfish drift along in the depths of the ocean, carried by water currents without resistance. This effortless existence personifies the idea that we, too, can move through life without needing to control every aspect of it.
The phrase be like a jellyfish, encourages us to go with the flow and trust in the world around us.
