Hey, here’s a story about jellyfish.
A jellyfish is a sea animal that has a very soft body and that can sting.
Play the video below to see jellyfish in their habitat.
Before we start, though, here’s some info for you. I have a present for all subscribers – my free 67-page e-book on English Tenses with all the tenses explained in detail.
Table of Contents
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE ENGLISH TENSES PDF
Anyway, in our story there are two jellyfish that can speak. One of them had some really deep thoughts and decided to share them with the other. It turns out that most jellyfish have thoughts like that.
The Story about Jellyfish
So, here’s a story about a typical identity problem most jellyfish have.
Theo: You know, Boo, there’s something I’ve been pondering for a long time now. How come they call us jellyfish? Our sleek bodies are made of jelly, that’s true, but we’re not fish!
As you know, jelly is a substance that is soft and thick, and also often sweet. Children love it. Most adults love it too.
Boo: Yes, you have a point. We’re definitely not fish, anybody can see it with the naked eye, provided they have an eye or two, unlike us.
Yeah, jellyfish don’t have eyes. But we’ll be talking about how they are built in a moment.
Anyway, Boo is right. Jellyfish don’t look like fish at all. Here are some examples of actual fish:
Back to Our Story…
Theo: Exactly, our bewildering names are just a load of baloney, don’t you think?
Boo: We’re on the same page. Calling ourselves jellyfish would be an arrogant sense of entitlement as fish are much smarter than we are.
Theo: Well, that’s not exactly what I meant. I would never ever like to be a fish. First of all because fish don’t have a gastrovascular cavity, so they can’t eat as much as we can, I’m afraid.
Boo: Yes, you’re right. It’s not so bad not being a fish.
Yeah, the gastrovascular cavity is very characteristic of jellyfish. How are these animals built in the first place? Have a look at this image. In the image you can see the gastrovascular cavity described as stomach.
Anyway, let’s go back to our story again.
Theo: Besides, fish don’t have the prehensile tentacles which we use to probe our environment for food.
To get a better understanding of the word PREHENSILE, watch the video below. You can see an elephant there with a prehensile trunk, so a trunk that can be easily used to grab stuff.
Boo: There is one thing about fish, though, that I sort of like.
Theo: What is it, Boo? I’m clueless.
Boo: We are often carried by the waves and thrown onto the beach where we shrivel and die. This never happens to fish or any other nekton.
Vocabulary
| ponder | to think about or consider sth carefully | ||
| how come | – used to ask why sth has happened, is true, etc. | ||
| sleek | smooth and shiny | ||
| have a point | – used to say when sb is making a good argument about sth | ||
| with the naked eye | without the use of a telescope, microscope, etc. | ||
| bewilder | to confuse sb very much | ||
| baloney | foolish words or ideas, nonsense | ||
| on the same page | agreeing about something | ||
| sense of entitlement | the feeling or belief that you deserve to be given something (such as special privileges) | ||
| gastrovascular cavity | the primary organ of digestion and circulation in jellyfish | ||
| prehensile | capable of grabbing or holding sth by wrapping around it | ||
| probe | to touch or reach into sth by using your finger, a long tool, etc., in order to see or find sth | ||
| clueless | not having knowledge about sth, unable to understand sth | ||
| shrivel | to become dry and wrinkled from heat, cold, or old age | ||
| nekton | free-swimming aquatic animals essentially independent of wave and current action |