Editing Jellyfish (section)

== Relation to humans ==
[[File:Jellyfish production time series.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Global harvest of jellyfish in thousands of tonnes as reported by the [[FAO]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=FAOSTAT|url=https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/|access-date=2023-02-10|website=www.fao.org}}</ref>]]

=== Fisheries ===
Jellyfish have long been eaten in some parts of the world.<ref name=asfood /> [[Fishery|Fisheries]] have begun harvesting the American cannonball jellyfish, ''[[Stomolophus meleagris]]'', along the southern Atlantic coast of the United States and in the Gulf of Mexico for export to Asia.<ref name="Hydrobiologia" />

Jellyfish are also harvested for their [[collagen]], which is being investigated for use in a variety of applications including the treatment of [[rheumatoid arthritis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/jellies-in-the-spotlight/ |title=Jellies in the Spotlight |author=George, Aleta |date=1 November 2012 |website=Endocrine News |publisher=Endocrine Society|access-date=16 June 2018}}</ref>

[[Aquaculture]] and fisheries of other species often suffer severe losses – and so losses of productivity – due to jellyfish.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Clinton | first1=Morag | last2=Ferrier | first2=David E K | last3=Martin | first3=Samuel A M | last4=Brierley | first4=Andrew S | editor-last=Byron | editor-first=Carrie | title=Impacts of jellyfish on marine cage aquaculture: an overview of existing knowledge and the challenges to finfish health | journal=[[ICES Journal of Marine Science]] | publisher=[[International Council for the Exploration of the Sea]] ([[Oxford University Press|OUP]]) | volume=78 | issue=5 | date=2021-04-02 | issn=1054-3139 | doi=10.1093/icesjms/fsaa254 | pages=1557–1573| hdl=10023/25136 | hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Bosch-Belmar | first1=Mar | last2=Milisenda | first2=Giacomo | last3=Basso | first3=Lorena | last4=Doyle | first4=Thomas K. | last5=Leone | first5=Antonella | last6=Piraino | first6=Stefano |display-authors=3| title=Jellyfish Impacts on Marine Aquaculture and Fisheries | journal=Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture | publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] | volume=29 | issue=2 | date=2020-09-03 | issn=2330-8249 | doi=10.1080/23308249.2020.1806201 | pages=242–259| s2cid=225330785 | doi-access=free | hdl=10447/531140 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>

=== Products ===
{{Main|Jellyfish as food}}
[[File:CantoneseJellyfish.jpg|thumb|left|Rehydrated jellyfish strips with [[soy sauce]] and [[sesame oil]]]]
[[Aristotle]] stated in the ''[[Parts of Animals]]'' IV, 6 that jellyfish (sea-nettles) were eaten in wintertime in a fish stew.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aristotle |author-link1=Aristotle |author2=William Ogle (trans.) |title=Parts of Animals |volume=IV |page=6<!-- Part --> |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8gBQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT1566 |isbn=9782378989842 |date=2018 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In some countries, including China, Japan, and Korea, jellyfish are a delicacy. The jellyfish is dried to prevent spoiling.
Only some 12 species of scyphozoan jellyfish belonging to the order [[Rhizostomeae]] are harvested for food, mostly in southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Omori | first1=M. | last2=Nakano | first2=E. | year=2001 | title=Jellyfish fisheries in southeast Asia | journal=Hydrobiologia | volume=451 | pages=19–26 | doi=10.1023/A:1011879821323| s2cid=6518460 }}</ref> Rhizostomes, especially ''[[Rhopilema]] esculentum'' in China ({{lang|zh|海蜇}} ''hǎizhé'', 'sea stingers') and ''Stomolophus meleagris'' (cannonball jellyfish) in the United States, are favored because of their larger and more rigid bodies and because their toxins are harmless to humans.<ref name="Hydrobiologia">{{Cite journal |author1=Hsieh, Y-H. Peggy |author2=Leong, Fui-Ming |author3=Rudloe, Jack | title=Jellyfish as food | journal=Hydrobiologia | volume=451| issue=1–3| pages=11–17| year=2001| doi=10.1023/A:1011875720415|s2cid=20719121 }}</ref>

Traditional processing methods, carried out by a jellyfish master, involve a 20- to 40-day multi-phase procedure in which, after removing the gonads and [[mucous membrane]]s, the umbrella and oral arms are treated with a mixture of [[table salt]] and [[alum]], and compressed. Processing makes the jellyfish drier and more acidic, producing a crisp texture. Jellyfish prepared this way retain 7–10% of their original weight, and the processed product consists of approximately 94% water and 6% protein. Freshly processed jellyfish has a white, creamy color and turns yellow or brown during prolonged storage.<ref name="Hydrobiologia" />

In China, processed jellyfish are desalted by soaking in water overnight and eaten cooked or raw. The dish is often served shredded with a dressing of oil, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar, or as a salad with vegetables. In Japan, cured jellyfish are rinsed, cut into strips and served with vinegar as an appetizer.<ref name="Hydrobiologia" /><ref>{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Marine Resources |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma0000firt |url-access=registration |last=Firth |first=F. E. |year=1969 |publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold |isbn=978-0-442-22399-1 }}</ref> Desalted, ready-to-eat products are also available.<ref name="Hydrobiologia" />

=== Biotechnology ===
{{further|Bioluminescence|Green fluorescent protein}}
[[File:PDB 1ema EBI.jpg|thumb|right|The hydromedusa ''[[Aequorea victoria]]'' was the source of [[green fluorescent protein]], studied for its role in [[bioluminescence]] and later for use as a marker in [[genetic engineering]].]]

[[Pliny the Elder]] reported in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' that the slime of the jellyfish "{{lang|la|italic=no|Pulmo marinus}}" produced light when rubbed on a walking stick.<ref>{{cite web |title=How the Jelly Got Its Glow |url=https://www.amnh.org/explore/science-bulletins/bio/documentaries/jellies-down-deep/how-the-jelly-got-its-glow/ |publisher=[[American Museum of Natural History]] |access-date=11 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140418/https://www.amnh.org/explore/science-bulletins/bio/documentaries/jellies-down-deep/how-the-jelly-got-its-glow/ |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1961, [[Osamu Shimomura]] extracted [[green fluorescent protein]] (GFP) and another bioluminescent protein, called [[aequorin]], from the large and abundant hydromedusa ''[[Aequorea victoria]]'', while studying [[photoprotein]]s that cause [[bioluminescence]] in this species.<ref name=Shimomura /> Three decades later, [[Douglas Prasher]] sequenced and cloned the gene for GFP.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Prasher, D. C. |author2=Eckenrode, V. K. |author3=Ward, W. W. |author4=Prendergast, F. G. |author5=Cormier, M. J. |display-authors=3| title=Primary structure of the Aequorea victoria green-fluorescent protein | journal=Gene | volume=111 | issue=2 | pages=229–33 | year=1992 | pmid=1347277 | doi=10.1016/0378-1119(92)90691-H }}</ref> [[Martin Chalfie]] figured out how to use GFP as a fluorescent marker of genes inserted into other cells or organisms.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Chalfie, M. |author2=Tu, Y. |author3=Euskirchen, G. |author4=Ward, W. W. |author5=Prasher, D. C. |display-authors=3|s2cid=9043327 | title=Green fluorescent protein as a marker for gene expression | journal=Science | volume=263 | issue=5148 | pages=802–5 | date=Feb 1994 | pmid=8303295 | doi=10.1126/science.8303295 | bibcode=1994Sci...263..802C }}</ref> [[Roger Tsien]] later chemically manipulated GFP to produce other fluorescent colors to use as markers. In 2008, Shimomura, Chalfie and Tsien won the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] for their work with GFP.<ref name=Shimomura>{{cite journal |author1=Shimomura, O. |author2=Johnson, F. H. |author3=Saiga, Y. | title=Extraction, purification and properties of aequorin, a bioluminescent protein from the luminous hydromedusan, ''Aequorea'' | journal=Journal of Cellular and Comparative Physiology | volume=59 | issue=3 | pages=223–39 | year=1962 | pmid=13911999 | doi=10.1002/jcp.1030590302 }}</ref>
Man-made GFP became widely used as a [[fluorescent tag]] to show which cells or tissues express specific genes. The [[genetic engineering]] technique fuses the [[gene]] of interest to the GFP gene. The fused [[DNA]] is then put into a cell, to generate either a cell line or (via [[IVF]] techniques) an entire animal bearing the gene. In the cell or animal, the [[artificial gene]] turns on in the same tissues and the same time as the normal gene, making a fusion of the normal protein with GFP attached to the end, illuminating the animal or cell reveals what tissues express that protein—or at what stage of development. The fluorescence shows where the gene is expressed.<ref>{{Cite book | author1=Pieribone, V. | author2=Gruber, D. F. | title=Aglow in the Dark: The Revolutionary Science of Biofluorescence | publisher=Harvard University Press | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-674-02413-7 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/aglowindarkrevol00vinc }}</ref>

=== Aquarium display ===
[[File:Jellyfish aqurium.jpg|thumb|right|[[Pacific sea nettle]]s (''Chrysaora fuscescens'') in an aquarium exhibit|alt=Photo of downward-swimming jellies]]
Jellyfish are displayed in many [[public aquarium]]s. Often the tank's background is blue and the animals are illuminated by side light, increasing the contrast between the animal and the background. In natural conditions, many jellies are so transparent that they are nearly invisible.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herring |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Herring |year=2002 |title=The Biology of the Deep Ocean Oxford University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/biologydeepocean00herr |url-access=limited |isbn=978-0-19-854956-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/biologydeepocean00herr/page/n199 190]–191|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> Jellyfish are not adapted to closed spaces. They depend on currents to transport them from place to place. Professional exhibits as in the [[Monterey Bay Aquarium]] feature precise water flows, typically in circular tanks to avoid trapping specimens in corners. The outflow is spread out over a large surface area and the inflow enters as a sheet of water in front of the outflow, so the jellyfish do not get sucked into it.<ref>{{cite web |title=US Patent for Jellyfish Tank |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/USD669229?oq=jellyfish+tank |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220210925/http://www.google.com/patents/USD669229?dq=jellyfish+tank&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ydcOUujaPKa0igL35oHQAw&sqi=2&pjf=1&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAg |archive-date=20 February 2015 }}</ref> As of 2009, jellyfish were becoming popular in home aquariums, where they require similar equipment.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/14/how-to-avoid-liquefying-your-jellyfish/ | work=[[The New York Times]] | title=How to Avoid Liquefying Your Jellyfish | first=Matt | last=Richtel | date=14 March 2009 | access-date=6 May 2010 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326223327/http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/14/how-to-avoid-liquefying-your-jellyfish/ | archive-date=26 March 2010}}</ref>

=== Stings ===
Jellyfish are armed with nematocysts, a type of specialized stinging cell.<ref name="McGee-2023">{{Cite journal |last1=McGee |first1=Richard G. |last2=Webster |first2=Angela C. |author-link2=Angela Webster |last3=Lewis |first3=Sharon R. |last4=Welsford |first4=Michelle |date=2023-06-05 |title=Interventions for the symptoms and signs resulting from jellyfish stings |url= |journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=2023 |issue=6 |pages=CD009688 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD009688.pub3 |issn=1469-493X |pmc=10240560 |pmid=37272501 }}</ref> Contact with a jellyfish tentacle can trigger millions of nematocysts to pierce the skin and inject [[venom]],<ref>Purves, W.K.; Sadava, D.; Orians, G.H.; Heller, H.C. 1998. Life. The Science of Biology. Part 4: The Evolution of Diversity. Chapter 31</ref> but only some species' venom causes an adverse reaction in humans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jellyfishart.com/kb_results.asp?ID=11 |title=Jellyfish Tanks and live pet Jellyfish for sale at Jellyfish Art – Buy Jellyfish and Jellyfish tanks |website=jellyfishart.com |access-date=3 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302090841/http://www.jellyfishart.com/kb_results.asp?ID=11 |archive-date=2 March 2012 }}</ref> In a study published in [[Communications Biology]], researchers found a jellyfish species called ''[[Cassiopea xamachana]]'' which when triggered will release tiny balls of cells that swim around the jellyfish stinging everything in their path. Researchers described these as "self-propelling microscopic grenades" and named them cassiosomes.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Giaimo|first=Cara|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/science/jellyfish-stingers-floating.html|title=You Didn't Touch These Jellyfish, but They Can Sting You With Tiny Grenades|date=2020-02-13|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-02-27|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The effects of stings range from mild discomfort to extreme pain and death.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mahon|first1=Andrew|last2=Mallinson|first2=Tom E|title=Lion's mane jellyfish sting|journal=International Paramedic Practice|volume=10|issue=2|year=2020|pages=46–48|issn=2052-4889|doi=10.12968/ippr.2020.10.2.46|s2cid=225837493}}</ref><ref name="smith" /> Most jellyfish stings are not deadly, but stings of some box jellyfish ([[Irukandji jellyfish]]), such as the [[sea wasp]], can be deadly. Stings may cause [[anaphylaxis]] (a form of shock), which can be fatal. Jellyfish kill 20 to 40 people a year in the Philippines alone. In 2006 the Spanish Red Cross treated 19,000 stung swimmers along the [[Costa Brava]].<ref name="smith" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourbeautifulplanet.org/nature/box-jellyfish-deadly/ |author=Adams, Julie |title=Box Jellyfish: Why are they so deadly? |date=13 August 2016 |access-date=17 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910014412/http://www.ourbeautifulplanet.org/nature/box-jellyfish-deadly/ |publisher=Our Beautiful Planet |archive-date=10 September 2016}}</ref>

Vinegar (3–10% aqueous [[acetic acid]]) may help with [[box jellyfish]] stings<ref name="MJA1993-fenner">{{Cite journal |author1=Fenner, P. |author2=Williamson, J. |author3=Burnett, J. |author4=Rifkin, J. | title=First aid treatment of jellyfish stings in Australia. Response to a newly differentiated species | journal=Medical Journal of Australia | volume=158 | issue=7 | pages=498–501 | year=1993 | pmid=8469205|doi=10.5694/j.1326-5377.1993.tb137588.x |s2cid=42453046 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Currie, B. |author2=Ho, S. |author3=Alderslade, P. | title=Box-jellyfish, Coca-Cola and old wine | journal=Medical Journal of Australia | volume=158 | issue=12 | page=868 | year=1993 | pmid=8100984|doi=10.5694/j.1326-5377.1993.tb137688.x |s2cid=19857333 }}</ref> but not the stings of the [[Portuguese man o' war]].<ref name="MJA1993-fenner" /> Clearing the area of jelly and tentacles reduces nematocyst firing.<ref name="MJA1980-hartwick">{{Cite journal |author1=Hartwick, R. |author2=Callanan, V. |author3=Williamson, J. | title=Disarming the box-jellyfish: nematocyst inhibition in ''Chironex fleckeri'' | journal=Medical Journal of Australia | volume=1 | issue=1 | pages=15–20 | year=1980 | pmid=6102347 |doi=10.5694/j.1326-5377.1980.tb134566.x |s2cid=204054168 }}</ref> Scraping the affected skin, such as with the edge of a credit card, may remove remaining nematocysts.<ref name="AFP2004-Perkins">{{Cite journal |author1=Perkins, R. |author2=Morgan, S. | title=Poisoning, envenomation, and trauma from marine creatures | journal=American Family Physician | volume=69 | issue=4 | pages=885–90 | year=2004 | pmid=14989575}}</ref> Once the skin has been cleaned of nematocysts, [[hydrocortisone]] cream applied locally reduces pain and inflammation.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Simmons | first1=Brian J. | last2=Griffith | first2=Robert D. | last3=Falto-Aizpurua | first3=Leyre A. | last4=Nouri | first4=Keyvan | title=Moon Jellyfish Stings | journal=JAMA Dermatology | volume=151 | issue=4 | pages=454–6 | year=2015 | doi=10.1001/jamadermatol.2014.4644 | pmid=25517656 | doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Histamine antagonist|Antihistamines]] may help to control [[itch]]ing.<ref name="AFP2004-Perkins" /> Immunobased antivenins are used for serious box jellyfish stings.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Baxter |first=E. H. |author2=Marr, A. G. M. |title=Sea wasp (''Chironex fleckeri'') antivenene: Neutralizing potency against the venom of three other jellyfish species|journal=Toxicon |date=May 1974 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=223–225 |doi=10.1016/0041-0101(74)90062-2|pmid=4156430 |bibcode=1974Txcn...12..223B }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jellyfish Stings: Treatment and Drugs |url=http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/jellyfish-stings/DS01119/DSECTION=treatments%2Dand%2Ddrugs |website=Mayo Clinic |publisher=Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research |access-date=15 April 2013 |date=1 September 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520073523/http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/jellyfish-stings/DS01119/DSECTION=treatments%2Dand%2Ddrugs |archive-date=20 May 2013 }}</ref>

In Elba Island and Corsica [[dittrichia viscosa]] is now used by residents and tourists to heal stings from jellyfish, bees and wasps by pressing fresh leaves on the skin with quick results.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="150px">
File:Irukandji-jellyfish-queensland-australia.jpg|[[Box jellyfish]] are small and venomous.
File:Jellyfish dermatitis case1 abdominal skin lateral.jpg|Jellyfish dermatitis
Jellyfish flag in Zarautz.jpg|A flag in the beach of [[Zarautz]] alerting about the presence of jellyfish in the water
File:Denizanası temas eden Bengisu Avcı, tekneye çıkmak zorunda kaldı.jpg|[[Bengisu Avcı]] in May 2024 after she came into contact with jellyfish while attempting to cross the Molokaʻi Channel in Hawaii
</gallery>

=== Mechanical issues ===
Jellyfish in large quantities can fill and split fishing nets and crush captured fish.<ref name="nsf">{{cite web |url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/jellyfish/textonly/swarms.jsp |title=Jellyfish Gone Wild — Text-only |publisher=Nsf.gov |access-date=18 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712115934/https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/jellyfish/textonly/swarms.jsp |archive-date=12 July 2010}}</ref> They can clog cooling equipment, having disabled [[power station]]s in several countries; jellyfish caused a cascading blackout in the Philippines in 1999,<ref name="smith">{{Cite journal | last=Tucker | first=Abigail | title=The New King of the Sea | journal=Smithsonian | volume=54 | issue=4 | pages=540–561 |date=July 2010 | pmid=28752797 | doi=10.1177/1363461517722869 | s2cid=12532183 }}</ref> as well as damaging the [[Diablo Canyon Power Plant]] in California in 2008.<ref>{{cite web | title=Current Event Notification Report | url=https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2008/20081022en.html#en44588 | publisher=NRC | date=22 October 2008 | access-date=14 July 2010 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605090546/http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2008/20081022en.html#en44588 | archive-date=5 June 2011}}</ref> They can also stop [[desalination plants]] and ships' engines.<ref name="nsf" /><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/6483758/Japanese-fishing-trawler-sunk-by-giant-jellyfish.html | title=Japanese fishing trawler sunk by giant jellyfish | first=Julian | last=Ryall | date=2 November 2009 | publisher=Telegraph.co.uk | location=London | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104054002/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/6483758/Japanese-fishing-trawler-sunk-by-giant-jellyfish.html | archive-date=4 November 2009}}</ref>