Jellyfish, which do not belong to the fish category and belong to the plankton class, have a very vital position in the food chain of sea creatures and are perhaps the most striking among the aquatic creatures.
But is the eyesight of these creatures so perfect that it is worth escaping from them, and are they as dangerous as we think?
With different sizes, structures and shapes, jellyfish have unique characteristics and abilities.
These creatures have a gelatinous body structure and most of them have a transparent body. These creatures, which have more than 10,000 different species, usually live in deep places in the middle of the ocean.
Living in salt water, jellyfish largely stay away from fresh water. At the same time, their bodies are filled with enough venom to kill a human or prey, and they can sting badly.
Jellyfish have a very simple anatomy compared to other sea creatures.
These creatures do not have bones, brains, and hearts, and they also lack most of the vital organs we have.
The chemical structure of jellyfish, whose body is 98% water, is extremely simple, as is its physical structure. In this structure, the epidermis takes on the task of protecting the organs; The gastrodermis is its inner layer. A gelatinous filler called mesoglea is also the part between these layers.
Jellyfish have a single mouth in their bodies, through which they both take in food and excrete their feces. They also have a simple stomach structure and tentacles of various shapes and lengths are indispensable limbs for them.
Let’s get to our main topic: Do these creatures have eyes?
When we think of the eye, although we think of a structure like ours, the situation is a little different for jellyfish. In fact, the ability to see does not need to be functional only with an organ with an eye-like structure.
These creatures do not have a brain structure that can process complex visual stimuli, but they have tentacles that function like a brain and that they also use to search for food.
At the ends of these tentacles are sensory organs that can detect light and different chemical traces in the water and at the same time orient themselves.
Jellyfish’s eyesight is not usually limited to a single organ like us.
Most jellyfish perform these abilities through networks of nerves and proteins called opsins. But it is not possible to put all jellyfish in the same mold at this point. For example, the eyes of the Cnidarian and Solentera species have undergone many evolutionary changes. Box jellyfish also have a total of 24 ops.
Two of the box jellyfish’s opsins are similar to our eye structure and have the same image-forming ability. These are described as the upper and lower lens eyes and help them find their way around, respond to light, and avoid obstacles.
These eye structures of box jellyfish, unlike other species, have real eyes consisting of corneas and lenses.
These structures, which contain the eyes, consist of a transparent tissue in which the eyes are suspended. These eyes can also turn in all directions and contribute to the ability of this creature to always direct its eyes upwards.
Also, a type of jellyfish known as the box jelly has six visual beams on each side of its body and can detect light in this way. At the same time, these perceptions play a big role in their survival.
In addition to all these, these creatures do not need strong eyesight as they are not a predatory species, and it is not possible for them to see us as we see them. Jellyfish, which frighten all living things with their poisonous stings, have caused various health problems by stinging 120 million people in 1 year, according to a study.
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