A jellyfish is a bell-shaped or inverted plate-shaped marine animal with its mouth found in the center underneath its body. Its body is made of two layers of skin with a jelly-like mass in between, hence the name. It is, however, classified not as fish but as a coelenterate. Jellyfish is a carnivorous animal, capturing any small prey of suitable size with its tentacles which it happens to come in contact with.
The tentacles of a jellyfish have stinging capsules (nematocysts), which the jellyfish use to stun its prey or protect itself from enemies. Inside the capsules is a coiled thread. When something touches the tentacles, the cell shoots out, sticking into the prey and injecting venom. After it has been stunned by the venom, the prey is carried to the mouth and swallowed. The digested material is disturbed throughout the jellyfish body by a system of canals. Human reaction to the sting varies, depending on the species of jellyfish, from a burning sensation to death. The cubomedusan jellyfish, particularly those belonging to the genera Chironex and Chiopsalmus, are extremely dangerous. A sting can cause paralysis and death in human within three minutes of contact.
