Why Do Comb Jelly Exist

The discovery of the Comb jelly which was the first animal fossil was a shocking and unexpected event to most scientists in the world. Scientists had a specific view about evolution. They thought that organisms evolve from a simple state to a more complex state. But that was not the case for the comb jelly which unlike what scientist thought was a very complex specie. It was so complex that it had a nervous system and tissues. But that was not the only misconception that they had to face. Another problem was that scientist believed for so long that the sponge was the first animal fossil, but this discovery has changed the order of species in the tree of life. 
They could not find the date of when Comb jellies have first existed. But if there existence predates the existence of
the sponges than an estimated date would be over 635 million years ago. 
Comb jellies also known as Ctenophores, belong to the phylum Ctenophora.
 Now that we have an idea about the first animal fossil, its time to describe the characteristics of a Ctenophore. These first animal fossils posses extreme amounts of cilia, referred to as combs. Combs help their movement through the water. The interesting thing about this fact, is that they are the biggest animals that move with the help of cilia. Those combs are positioned in a way that when the light reaches them from different angles it makes them look colorful. When it comes to their tentacles. They only have one pair of tentacles that does not sting. Its function is to simply help them catch their food.
 That is only a general description of a comb jelly. The phylum Ctenophora consists of many different species, from which they have only been thoroughly able to study the ones that are found near the shore. Starting off with the Cydippids. Cydippids can have a variety of shapes, ranging from an oval and spherical shape, to a more rounded shape. They have a complex divided tentacle. Another species would have to be the Lobates. The special characteristic of a Lobate is their tentacle. They start off by having a short tentacle up until that tentacle grows and becomes bigger then the ones possessed by the Cydippids. This leaves us with the Beroids that seem to lack the presences of a tentacle, but are very well known to have a large mouth, that they can close very tightly. The only reason scientist could not easily study the comb jellies that our found in the middle of the ocean, is because it is impossible for them to capture one and not kill it due to its high sensibility and fragility. And the reason those in the middle of the ocean evolved that way is because they did not have to face a rough environment like the coastal waves.
Moving on to This first animal fossil feeding regiment and habitat. Ctenophores are considered as a carnivorous specie. They consume a variety of planktonic organisms like fish larvae. The amount of food they eat is extremely large and the only way they can do so is by progressively pumping water inside their body cavities. Comb jellies can live in a variety of locations. Some live near the shores other live in deep water, but what ever part of the ocean they are found in the majority of the time the water is warm. They basically prefer a warm environment. 
 When it comes to adaptation this fascinating creature protects itself by producing when touched a colorful light that will scare away their predators, or attract larger predators that can now attack the predator of the comb jelly. But most of the comb jelly’s initial color when untouched is transparent which makes it easier for them to hide from their predators. It is a sort of camouflage.
 Furthermore comb jellies are considered as hermaphroditic which means that they have both the female and male reproductive system. They release on a daily basis an egg and a sperm in the water in hopes that it will
fertilize with another egg or sperm. Once they do find each other the embryo is going to become a larva which is eventually going to grow into a mature Ctenophore. The interesting thing about this reproductive cycle is that the larva itself can reproduce offsprings which explains why there is a huge amount of comb jellies in the ocean . Adding to that some scientist believe that since they have both organs they can produce there own embryo by self fertilization