Sea turtles spend their entire life in the ocean, so when it comes to food they are limited to what they are able to find in the ocean, and one of the things found in oceans is jellyfish. This got me wondering to turtles eat jellyfish? So I decided to do some research on the subject, here is what I found out.
Do sea turtles eat jellyfish? Yes, some sea turtles will eat jellyfish. There are not many animals in the ocean that will eat jellyfishes, but sea turtles are some of them.
Not too many animals in the sea will eat jellyfishes because they defend themselves but their stingy tentacles, but sea turtles are somehow able to do it. But the term sea turtle is not very exact, there are 7 different species of sea turtles, and each one has a distinct diet. So let’s take a closer look at what sea turtle species will eat jellyfishes, and how they do it.
How Sea Turtles Eat Jellyfishes
Sea turtles are some of the few animals in the ocean that can eat jellyfish. And this is because the jellyfish has a very good defense mechanism.
To defend themselves jellyfishes use their tentacles to sting their opponent and to infect them with venom. On their tentacles, most jellyfishes have something called cnidocytes, which are responsible for the stinging, and the sensation that they live.
Not all jellyfishes have the same type of venom, some of them just live a small unpleasant sensation that goes away after a few minutes, while others are a lot more dangerous. But for turtles, it doesn’t really matter what type of venom the jellyfishes have.
Turtles are reptiles, and like all reptiles, they have scales on their skin. Those scales cannot be penetrated by the cnidocytes of the jellyfish. So it’s not that the turtles are immune to jellyfish stings, but the jellyfishes can’t sting them.
The only parts of a sea turtle that are vulnerable, are the eyes. But this is solved very easily by closing them.
But the venom of the jellyfish isn’t only effective if used outside. If other animals somehow manage to eat a jellyfish without getting stung by it, they will still have to deal with the venom once they ingested it.
Turtles’ stomachs have a special way of dealing with the venom. They will still be affected by it, but in a completely different way. Due to the inner workings of the sea turtle’s stomach, the unpleasant sensation that the venom would produce is changed to something similar to the effects of alcohol on humans.
So not only that turtles can eat jellyfish, but they also enjoy it more than other types of food.
As I mentioned in the being, not all sea turtles will eat jellyfish. but before we take a closer look at which sea turtles eat jellyfish, let’s look at a couple of videos of a turtle eating a jellyfish, this way you will see how they actually attack the jellyfish.
The Different Types of Sea Turtles
As I said there are 7 different types of sea turtles, they are Loggerhead turtles, Green sea turtles, Leatherback turtles, Hawksbill turtles, Kemp’s ridley turtles, Olive ridley turtles, and Flatback turtles.
Now let’s take a closer look at what each species eats.
Loggerhead turtles are carnivorous, this means that they will only eat meat. They are one of the two sea turtle species that eat only meat.
The interesting thing about Loggerhead turtles is that they are not born carnivorous, when they are young they will eat both plants and meat.
Here is what an adult Loggerhead turtle diet contains:
- Crabs
- Conchs
- Whelks
- Horseshoe crabs
Kemp’s ridley turtles are the other carnivorous species, but unlike Loggerhead turtles, they are carnivorous from the moment they are born.
Here is what an adult Kemp’s ridley turtle diet contains:
- Crabs
- Fish
- Shrimp
- Molluscs
- Crab
- Jellyfish
Leatherback turtles can be considered carnivorous, but they are usually referred to as gelatinizes. This is because they only eat gelatinous animals.
Here is what an adult Leatherback turtle diet contains:
- Jellyfish
- Tunicates
- Sea Squids
Leatherback turtles are the biggest consumers of jellyfish in the world. In fact, they eat so many jellyfish that they are responsible for keeping the jellyfish population under control. The population of Leatherback turtles has declined a lot during the last years, and as a result, there have been great increases in the jellyfish populations.
Green sea turtles are herbivorous, this means that they only eat plants. But like babies and juveniles, they are omnivorous, and this means that they will also eat meat, and one of their favorite sources is jellyfishes.
Here is what an adult Green sea turtle diet contains:
- Algae
- Seagrass
- Seaweed
Hawksbill turtles are known to be spongiosis, this means that they will only eat sea sponges.
Here is what an adult Hawksbill turtle diet contains:
- Sea sponges
Flatback turtles are omnivores, which means that they will eat plants as well as meat.
Here is what an adult Flatback turtle diet contains:
- Soft corals
- Shrimp
- Sea cucumbers
- Fish
- Crabs
- Molluscs
- Fish
- Seaweed
- Jellifish
Olive ridley turtles are also omnivores, this means that they will eat plants as well as meat.
Here is what an adult Olive ridley turtle diet contains:
- Crab
- Shrimp
- Lobster
- Urchins
- Fish
- Algae
- Jellifish
So only adult turtle species will eat jellyfish, and another species will eat them when they are younger. Even if a big group of sea turtles will eat jellyfishes, it will be wrong to say that all of them do.
Related Questions
Do sea turtles eat small fish? Yes, some sea turtles will eat small fish. But in general, fishes are a little too fast for turtles so they are not one of their main food sources.
Are sea turtles endangered? Yes, most sea turtles are endangered at the moment. There are a lot of organizations that are doing their best to help sea turtles, but the results are mixt at the moment. But it’s hard to tell how things are going when you talk about something as the survival of a species that lives in the ocean.
Do sharks eat turtles? Yes, sharks are known to eat turtles. In fact, sharks are one of the few animals in the ocean that can successfully attack a turtle. Turtle is very resistant due to their shells, and not many animals that live in the ocean are able to attack them successfully.
What animals eat jellyfish? Turtles are the biggest consumers of jellyfishes, but there are other animals that eat them as well. Tunas, sharks, salmon, swordfishes, and penguins are also known to eat jellyfishes.
Can humans eat jellyfish? Yes, there are some jellyfish species that humans can eat. Jellyfish dishes are usually popular in Asian countries.
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