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Browse the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
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Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

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This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

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JELLYFISH

The common jellyfish, Aurelia, belongs to a very primitive group of organisms, the coelenterates. These are peculiar in that they have only one opening to their alimentary canal which is situated in the middle of the under surface of the umbrella, and serves both to take in food and to discharge waste. Around the mouth are a number of stinging cells which paralyse the prey before it is eaten. Aurelia, however, feeds mostly on tiny plankton organisms and is harmless to man, though some other members of the coelenterate family can produce a very painful sting.

by Richard Morrison Cassie, M.SC.(N.Z.), D.SC.(AUCK.), Senior Lecturer in Zoology, University of Auckland.

Co-creator

Richard Morrison Cassie, M.SC.(N.Z.), D.SC.(AUCK.), Senior Lecturer in Zoology, University of Auckland.