# What Do Jellyfish Eat?

> What jellyfish eat: Carnivore (plankton and small fish), foraging style, and seasonal shifts in Oceans worldwide, surface to deep sea.

- **Species:** Jellyfish (*Medusozoa*)
- **Conservation status:** Least Concern
- **Diet:** Carnivore (plankton and small fish)
- **Habitat:** Oceans worldwide, surface to deep sea
- **Lifespan:** A few months to a few years
- **Top speed:** Slow drifters; weak swimmers
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/jellyfish/what-do-jellyfish-eat/
- **Parent profile:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/jellyfish/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Quick answer

Jellyfish are gelatinous marine animals that have drifted through the oceans for over 500 million years, longer than the dinosaurs. They have no brain, heart, or bones, are about 95% water, and capture prey using stinging tentacles. Sizes range from a few millimeters to the lion's mane jellyfish with tentacles over 30 m (100 ft) long, and the box jellyfish is among the most venomous animals on Earth.

## Who should skip this page

Skip this if you need a captive feeding plan from a veterinarian. This page is wild diet, not a pet-care sheet.

## Life without a brain

Jellyfish have no brain, heart, blood, or bones. They sense the world through a simple net of nerves and react to light, touch, and chemicals in the water. Made of around 95% water, their bell pulses gently to move, though they mostly drift with the currents.

## Help protect the Jellyfish

Ocean wildlife is under mounting pressure from overfishing, bycatch and plastic pollution.

[Donate to wildlife protection](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/donate/)

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Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/jellyfish/what-do-jellyfish-eat/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.