Jelly fish Boon or bane?

Submitted by
Major guide
S.Abuthagir iburahim
Dr. Latha Shenoy
FRM-MA5-02
Principal Scientist
Abstract:
Jelly fishes belong to the phylum Cnidaria and Ctenophora. These
gelatinous zooplankton have been living for 700 millions of years and
considered as one of the oldest multiorgan animals on our planet .The
jellyfishes are opportunistic predators. The increase in jellyfish blooms are
registered in most part of the world as a result of climatic change,
eutrophication, pollution, translocation, overfishing etc. Their blooms are
considered as nuisance for coastal tourism which threatens the swimmers
by their powerful stings and

some of the units of nuclear power plants

had to be shut down as a result of clogging related issues. It also led to

decrease in pelagic fisheries, damage to fishing nets etc. and caused huge
loss to the marine sector. There are some useful discoveries pertaining to
jellyfish such as gellagen, green fluorescent protein to track living cells,
medicines for treatment of arthritis, use as super absorbent material and
new value added products such as jelly candies, cookies etc. Thus, jelly
fish blooms create havoc, products derived from jelly fish great show
promise for nutraceutical industry, collagen industry, seafood industry,
diaper industry etc. .There is ample scope for research on jelly fish in the
Indian context as existing studies mainly relate to the environmental
factors leading to blooms.
Key words-Jelly fish, Cnidaria, Ctenophora