Medusa

Ancient myths say that once upon a time lived three sisters Gorgon - sphene, Euryale, and Medusa. That's in honor of the latter, and called the animal. The good sisters were just looking at them all living things turned into stone, and no wonder - instead of hair they had serpents stirring. And the rest of the species does not inspire confidence.
 But do not be afraid to look at the jellyfish. In fact, they are very beautiful. Fanciful lanterns, lamps, dishes and umbrellas with tentacles, all translucent, ephemeral, often tinged with tender blue, purple, brown and pink colors. Their slow graceful dance in the water fascinate.
 You can from them and "turn to stone." True, not by sight but by touch. The poison paralyzes the jellyfish inadvertently sailed them fish. But people from the jellyfish goes.
 Jellyfish belong to the class of coelenterates. They are arranged simply - a sort of double-layered bag or hat with a lining. The outer layer of cells is consistent with our skin and the inner layer of cells lining - it's mouth and stomach. However, the mouth - and not your mouth, as the remnants of undigested food through it are also deleted.
 More than just a jellyfish of interest to so-called stinging cells. All jellyfish have them. They look like a capsule filled with poison. Inside the cells twisted into a spiral of long hollow thread that protrudes outside the tiddly sensitive hair. Just touch it, the thread is everted from the capsule and stuck to the victim. As the thread injected poison.
 The man is too big for jellyfish prey, and, in most cases, burn jellyfish are not deadly, but very unpleasant. However, the larger jellyfish of the species, the worse the consequences of meeting her.
 What kind of jellyfish are the same size? Very different - from a pinhead to a six-foot giants. Do you want specific numbers?
 In the Guinness Book of Records is listed tsianeya hairy jellyfish caught in the Northwest Atlantic in 1865. Her hat was 2.28 meters in diameter, and tentacles extended by 36.5 meters. That is, if you stretch the tentacles in all directions, the length of a jellyfish is 75 meters. This is the longest animal on Earth!

 Tentacles cyan - thousands of thin and sticky crimson-brown strands. Clusters form a field of jellyfish stinging web area tens of thousands of square meters. It tells the story of this jellyfish in a colorful story of Conan Doyle's "The lion's mane." But the story is not entirely accurate, to kill a man unlikely to tsianeya.
 The farther away from their native shores to the south, the more jellyfish in the sea, the more they sting. In the Mediterranean, we can "make happy" gelatinous creatures with such beautiful names as hrizaora, Charybdis, kotiloriza. In 1976 it first appeared glowing jellyfish Pelagia, a contact that can cause not only a burning pain, and shock.
 Living in the Mediterranean and Physalia - amazing creatures, the main area which is in the warmer southern seas. Frankly, Physalia - this is not a jellyfish. This is a colony of hundreds of jellyfish and polyps, each of which performs a function. Some of them get food, while others digest it, and still others protect the colony from enemies. But apparently it looks like a single organism.
 An organism that is very beautiful. Imagine floating on the sea float size human head, painted in iridescent colors of blue and blue to purple and pink. And pulls to take it in hand. But beneath this air bladder located 15-20 meters yadonosnyh tentacles!
 Physalia venom is similar to the action of cobra poison. Accidental touching it causes severe burns, the body covered with blisters, swollen lymph glands, is breathtaking. We describe and death.
 So, starting in the winter to warm up to banks chuzhedalnih, be careful ...