Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of
the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-
swimming marine animals, although a few are anchored to the seabed by stalks rather than being motile.
They are made of an umbrella-shaped main body made of mesoglea, known as the bell, and a collection of
trailing tentacles on the underside.
Via pulsating contractions, the bell can provide propulsion for locomotion through open water. The tentacles
are armed with stinging cells and may be used to capture prey or to defend against predators. Jellyfish have
a complex life cycle, and the medusa is normally the sexual phase, which produces planula larvae. These
then disperse widely and enter a sedentary polyp phase which may include asexual budding before reaching
sexual maturity.
Jellyfish are found all over the world, from surface waters to the deep sea. Scyphozoans (the "true jellyfish")
are exclusively marine, but some hydrozoans with a similar appearance live in fresh water. Large, often
colorful, jellyfish are common in coastal zones worldwide. The medusae of most species are fast-growing, and
mature within a few months then die soon after breeding, but the polyp stage, attached to the seabed, may be
much more long-lived. Jellyfish have been in existence for at least 500 million years,[1] and possibly 700
million years or more, making them the oldest multi-organ animal group.[2]
Jellyfish are eaten by humans in certain cultures. They are considered a delicacy in some Asian countries,
where species in the Rhizostomeae order are pressed and salted to remove excess water. Australian
researchers have described them as a "perfect food": sustainable and protein-rich but relatively low in food
energy.[3]
They are also used in cell and molecular biology research, especially the green fluorescent protein used by
some species for bioluminescence. This protein has been adapted as a
fluorescent reporter for inserted genes and has had a large impact on fluorescence microscopy.
The stinging cells used by jellyfish to subdue their prey can injure humans. Thousands of swimmers
worldwide are stung every year, with effects ranging from mild discomfort to serious injury or even death.
When conditions are favourable, jellyfish can form vast swarms, which may damage fishing gear by filling
fishing nets, and sometimes clog the cooling systems of power and desalination plants which draw their water
from the sea.
Names
The name jellyfish, in use since 1796,[4] has traditionally been applied to medusae and all similar animals
including the comb jellies (ctenophores, another phylum).[5][6] The term jellies or sea jellies is more recent,
having been introduced by public aquaria in an effort to avoid use of the word "fish" with its modern
connotation of an animal with a backbone, though shellfish, cuttlefish and starfish are not vertebrates
either.[7][8] In scientific literature, "jelly" and "jellyfish" have been used interchangeably.[9][10] Many sources refer
to only scyphozoans as "true jellyfish".[11]
A group of jellyfish is called a "smack"[12] or a "smuck".[13]
Mapping to taxonomic groups
A purple-striped jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Phylogeny
Definition
The term jellyfish broadly corresponds to medusae,[4] that is, a life-cycle stage in the Medusozoa. The
American evolutionary biologist Paulyn Cartwright gives the following general definition:
Typically, medusozoan cnidarians have a pelagic, predatory jellyfish stage in their life cycle; staurozoans are
the exceptions [as they are stalked]. [14]
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines jellyfish as follows:
A free-swimming marine coelenterate that is the sexually reproducing form of a hydrozoan or scyphozoan and
has a nearly transparent saucer-shaped body and extensible marginal tentacles studded with stinging
cells.[15]
Given that jellyfish is a common name, its mapping to biological groups is inexact. Some authorities have
called the comb jellies[16] and certain salps[16] jellyfish, though other authorities state that neither of these are
jellyfish, which they consider should be limited to certain groups within the medusozoa. [17][18]
The non-medusozoan clades called jellyfish by some but not all authorities (both agreeing and disagreeing
citations are given in each case) are indicated with "???" on the following cladogram of the animal kingdom:
Animal Porifera
ia
Ctenophora (comb jellies)[16] ???[17]
Cnidaria (includes jellyfish and other jellies)
Bilateria Protostomia
Deuterostomia Ambulacraria
Chordata
Tunicata (includes salps)[16] ???[18]
Vertebrata
Medusozoan jellyfish
Jellyfish are not a clade, as they include most of the Medusozoa, barring some of the Hydrozoa.[19][20] The
medusozoan groups included by authorities are indicated on the following phylogenetic tree by the presence
of citations. Names of included jellyfish, in English where possible, are shown in boldface; the presence of a
named and cited example indicates that at least that species within its group has been called a jellyfish.
Cnidar
Anthozoa (corals)
ia
Polypodiozoa and Myxozoa (parasitic cnidarians)
Medusozoa Acraspeda
Staurozoa (stalked jellyfish)[21]
Rhopaliophora
Cubozoa (box jellyfish)[16]
Scyphozoa
(true jellyfish[19]) Discomedusae[16]
Coronatae (crown
jellyfish)[22]
Hydrozoa
Aplanulata
Siphonophorae
Some Leptothecata[16] e.g. crystal jelly
Filifera[16] e.g. red paper lantern jellyfish[23]
Trachylinae
Limnomedusae, e.g. flower hat jelly[16]
Narcomedusae, e.g. cosmic jellyfish[24]
