Organism Physiology Paper
Melinda Jones
January 25, 2013
BIO/101
Donovan Tims
Organism Physiology
There are many different types of organisms that could have been chosen for this assignment. Organisms are any living thing such as fungus, animals, plants, or micro-organism. It is a body made up of organs, organelles, or other parts that will work together to carry on the various processes of life. The organism I chose for this assignment is jellyfish, or scientifically known as “Medusozoa.” The name “jellyfish” is a term that refers to the enormous variety of creatures that live in the sea. Some jellyfish live in fresh water. Jellyfish is an animal that belongs to phylum cnidarians, that is included in the class of scyphozoan. They are members of two groups that float freely or swim. The two groups are cnidarians and ctenophores. The type of jellyfish in the diagram is the scyphozoan medusa. They are the jellyfish that is commonly found washed up on seashore (Buiding Bodus of Jelly-Jellyfish, 2012). They are typified as free-swimming marine animals consisting of a gelatinous umbrella-shaped bell and trailing tentacles. The bell can pulsate for locomotion, while stinging tentacles can be used to capture prey. Large, often colorful, jellyfish are common in coastal zones worldwide. Jellyfish have roamed the seas for at least 500 million years, and possibly 700 million years or more, making them the oldest multi-organ animal.
Jellyfish have two major body forms. The first body form is the polyp stage. This stage is characterized by the non-moving stalk that will catch food floating by. The second major body form is called the medusa stage. This form is characterized by the round body with hanging tentacles that will catch food (Hernandez, 2012). This form is more familiar to most people. The jellyfish feeds off of small fish and zooplankton that has been caught in their tentacles. They also have an incomplete digestive system, and this means...