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Echizen jellyfish, the world's largest jellyfish, can grow up to 200 kg. It lives from the Yangtze River basin of China to the Sea of Japan.
This giant jellyfish was jokingly called "underwater anti-Japanese army" and "jellyfish comrade" by netizens.
Because it is such a "gadget" that can single-handedly block Japan's nuclear power plants, capsize a ton-heavy fishing boat, and win the name of Japan's "second threat".
What is the power of the Echizen jellyfish that can have such an impact on Japan? What harm does it cause to China's waters?
Jellyfish raid Japanese nuclear power plants
In 2006, Japan's nuclear power plants suddenly detected a sudden failure in the cooling system, and the filter holes flowing into the seawater were blocked by a large amount of debris, causing the generators of the nuclear power plants to generate abnormal heat.
This frightened the nuclear power plant staff, who rushed to shut down the nuclear power plant urgently. Because if there is an accident at a nuclear power plant, the damage to Japan may be more serious than an earthquake.
However, when the staff cleaned the seawater cooling inlet pipe, they found that the culprit was a group of huge, slimy giant jellyfish.
These jellyfish came from the Yellow Sea and East China Sea basins on the mainland, and swam along the currents to the waters of Japan.
Coincidentally, many of Japan's nuclear power plants are built right next to the sea.
Because the nuclear fuel used in many nuclear power plants generates huge amounts of thermal energy, water must be used as a carrier to dissipate heat and cool. Nuclear power plants are built near the sea, which is not only convenient for water, but also saves costs.
However, Japan never imagined that this would attract a large number of jellyfish to gather.
Because the outlet discharged into the seawater from the nuclear power plant is relatively warm, it will attract a large number of jellyfish groups, and the jellyfish reproduce very quickly, so the cooling outlet will be blocked.
And this is not the first time Echizen jellyfish have attacked Japan.
Become a scourge for Japan
In October 2009, a 10-ton Japanese fishing boat was fishing at sea and was about to collect its nets when it suddenly ran into an army of Echizen jellyfish.
At that time, the sea area where the fishing boat traveled was calm, but within a few minutes, the area around the fishing boat gradually turned a blood red.
The fishermen were so startled that they didn't realize what it was.
Until someone got closer and found that it was a group of huge, orange-red giant jellyfish, many of which looked bigger than a refrigerator.
These jellyfish entangle fishing nets with tentacles that secrete venom, and the fish in the nets are either poisoned by jellyfish or stabbed to death by jellyfish.
Seeing this, the fishermen wanted to compete with these jellyfish for fishing nets, but they did not expect that not only all the fish in the nets were released into the sea, but even the 10-ton fishing boat was directly overturned.
The three crew members of the fishing boat all fell into the sea desperately to avoid the attack of the jellyfish, but fortunately the rescue team at sea was dispatched in time, otherwise the three fishermen would have died in the hands of the jellyfish.
After this accident, a large number of Echizen jellyfish began to flood the waters of Japan, and in the most exaggerated case, fishermen salvaged thousands of jellyfish at one time.
Almost half of the fish in the ocean go into the stomachs of this group of jellyfish. This left fishermen bitter, and at the time the catch was less than half of the previous period, and Japan's fishing industry was hit hard.
The cause of the Echizen jellyfish flood
Why did the number of Echizen jellyfish suddenly surge and could not be completely eliminated?
It all has to do with the asexual reproductive ability of Echizen jellyfish and Japan's self-inflicted suffering.
After Japan first discovered that this jellyfish posed a great threat, it implemented a plan to remove the Echizen jellyfish.
When fishermen catch Echizen jellyfish, they kill and chop them all and throw the jellyfish pieces back into the sea.
Fishermen thought that the jellyfish fragments would be eaten by other sea creatures, which would deter the jellyfish.
But what they didn't expect was that the physiological mechanism of Echizen jellyfish is very special, and it is enough to automatically discharge sperm and eggs after physical injury.
When the fragments of these jellyfish are thrown back into the sea, the sperm and eggs of the jellyfish are fertilized and combined in the sea, after which the fertilized eggs can sink to the beach to survive in the form of hydras, waiting for slow development.
Moreover, the reproductive ability of Echizen jellyfish is very terrifying, one fertilized egg can give birth to 4 hydra bodies, and each hydra body can give birth to 10 Echizen jellyfish.
An Echizen jellyfish generally has more than 100,000 sperm and eggs. That is to say, if Echizen jellyfish are in a normal marine environment, millions of jellyfish can be bred.
That's a pretty scary number.
Giant jellyfish
The Echizen jellyfish is one of the largest living jellyfish in the world and one of the largest ceramanders in the world.
In 1921, Japanese biologist Koichi Nomura first discovered this new type of jellyfish, named after Echizen, the name of Japan's ancient order system.
Before the 21st century, there were not many Echizen jellyfish, and there are few records of Echizen jellyfish.
However, after the new century, Echizen jellyfish suddenly appeared in large numbers and began to frequently move in Japanese waters, which had a great impact on Japan's fishing industry.
Because the size of the Echizen jellyfish is exceptionally large, it can reach a diameter of 2-3 meters and weigh more than 220 kilograms after the Echizen jellyfish is formed. Humans will look particularly small in front of Echizen jellyfish.
Where Echizen jellyfish are present, there are basically no small fish that survive. Not only that, but the organs of Echizen jellyfish can also secrete toxins to paralyze other marine life.
The hazards of jellyfish swarms
For this reason, Japan has enacted a law that requires fishermen to catch Echizen jellyfish and then catch them ashore for secondary processing.
But the amount of human catch is simply no longer than the number of jellyfish reproduction, and the number of jellyfish has hardly changed.
Not only that, because the temperature adaptability of jellyfish is strong, the global warming and seawater eutrophication in recent years have also accelerated the reproduction of jellyfish.
Some people may wonder, Japan is now discharging nuclear sewage, will the number of Echizen jellyfish decrease as a result?
The impact of Japan's discharge on the marine environment and its organisms is not immediate, and it may take a long time to become apparent.
But as far as the previous situation is concerned, Echizen jellyfish are very adaptable to the environment, and the worse the environment, the happier the jellyfish live.
Like a cockroach in the ocean, it may be extinct in any other life, but the jellyfish can still survive until the Earth explodes.