Jellyfish
Do Jellyfish have brains? Jellyfish don’t have brains, instead, they have a nervous system which keeps them going.
There are several species of jellyfish in Hilton Head:
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Cannonball Jellyfish
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Four-Handed Box Jellyfish
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Lion’s Mane Jellyfish
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Moon Jellyfish
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Sea Nettle
Jellyfish Educational Video with Snowball
There are over 200 species, or types of jellyfish in the world. Jellyfish are important to our ocean’s health and actually help to cool our oceans which is important right now due to warming water temperatures because of climate change.
Jellyfish are invertebrates which means they have no backbone. Salps and Portuguese man-o-war can also be found in Hilton Head and are often thought to be jellyfish, however, they are not.
Not all jellyfish sting humans, and out of ones that do sting, not all have venom. This means you may experience pain, but are not in danger. Four handed box jellyfish are the most venomous species in Hilton Head. They have eyes that are able to see light and shadows.
Nematocysts are the tiny stinging cells found on tentacles, which is the part of the jellyfish that stings and there are millions of them! Most jellyfish species don’t swim, instead they “go with the flow”, however four handed box jellyfish are able to swim up to 4mph!
Some jellyfish don’t die unless they are eaten by a predator.
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