What do jellies eat?
Most jellies feed on some type of zooplankton, small animals that drift with ocean currents. Some even eat other jellies. The jellies with the most potent stings usually dine on bigger food like whole fish or prawn. At the Tennessee Aquarium, the jellies’ diets are a little bit different. Live natural plankton is not available to us because we are not located near an ocean. Every morning newly hatched brine shrimp (Artemia) are harvested to be fed to the jellies. These small crustaceans, popularly known as sea monkeys, make up the basis of our jelly diets. Once hatched, the brine shrimp are fed vitamin-rich supplements to make them more nutritious for the jellies. Other foods, including – but not limited to – frozen blood worms or mysis shrimp, chopped moon jellyfish, fish eggs and rotifers are added to the diets of different jellyfish in order to maximize the nutritional variety offered.
