JELLYFISH

any planktonic marine member of the class Scyphozoa (phylum Cnidaria), a group of invertebrate animals composed of about 200 described species, or of the class Cubozoa, which was formerly considered an order of Scyphozoa. The term is also frequently applied to certain other cnidarians that have a medusoid (bell- or saucer-shaped) body form, as, for example, the hydromedusae and the siphonophores (including the Portuguese man-of-war), as well as to such unrelated forms as comb jellies and salps. Scyphozoan jellyfish can be divided into two types, those that are free-swimming medusae and those that are sessile (i.e., stem animals that are attached to seaweed and other objects by a stalk). The sessile polyplike forms constitute the order Stauromedusae. Free-swimming Scyphozoan jellyfish occur in all oceans and include the familiar disk-shaped animals that are often found drifting along the shoreline. Most live for only a few weeks, but some are known to survive a year or longer. The bodies of most range in size from about 2 to 40 cm (1 to 16 inches) in diameter; some species are considerably larger, however, with diameters of up to 2 m (6.6 feet). Scyphozoan medusae consist of almost 99 percent water as a result of the composition of the jelly that forms the bulk in nearly all species. Most feed on small animals that they catch in their tentacles, which have stinging cells (nematocysts). Some, however, simply filter feed, extracting minute animals and plants from the water. Like all cnidarians, their bodies are made up of two cellular layers, the ectoderm and the endoderm, between which lies the mesoglea, a layer of connective tissue composed of a gelatinous substance. In jellyfish the mesoglea is much enlarged to form the buoyant, transparent jelly. The life cycle of free-swimming Scyphozoan jellyfish typically consists of three stages. A sessile polyp (scyphistoma) stage asexually buds off young medusae from its upper end, with each such ephyra larva growing into an adult. The adults are either male or female, but in some species they frequently change their sex. In many species, normal fusion of egg and sperm results in an embryo that is brooded in the gut of the adult until it becomes a planula larva; but in some this development takes place in the sea. After the planula larva leaves its parent, it settles, passing briefly through a so-called hydratuba stage until it grows into a new scyphistoma. Such a life cycle is characteristic of the order Semaeostomeae, which contains some 50 described species of mainly coastal-water jellyfish, several of which have very wide geographic ranges. Included among these are members of the genera /a>Aurelia and /a>Chrysaora (qq.v.). The order Coronatae includes about 30 described species of mostly deep-sea jellyfish, often maroon in colour. A deep circular groove delimits the central part of the bell-shaped body from the periphery, which is divided into broad flaps, or lappets. The marginal tentacles are large and solid. Some species are known to have a scyphistoma stage, but the life cycle of most of the forms is unknown. The Coronatae are the most primitive of the present-day scyphozoans and are thought to be descended directly from the fossil form Conulata, which flourished between about 180 and 600 million years ago. Some of the known sessile stages form branched colonies, which were once separately identified under the name Stephanoscyphus. The order Rhizostomeae includes some 80 described species. In these jellyfish the frilly projections called mouth, or oral, arms that extend down from the underside of the body are fused, obliterating the mouth and forming a spongy area used in filter feeding. Marginal tentacles are lacking, and the gelatinous bell is firm and warty. In species whose life cycles are known, there is a typical benthic (bottom-dwelling) scyphistoma stage. Most members of the order are vigorous swimmers. Species of /a>Cassiopea (q.v.), however, swim infrequently and sit inverted in tropical shallows, exposing their photosynthetic symbiotic algae to sunlight. The group Rhizostomeae is found mainly in shallow tropical to subtropical seas in the Indo-Pacific region, but the genus Rhizostoma, also called football jellyfish, often inhabits cooler waters, and Cotylorhiza is common in the Mediterranean. The fourth order, Stauromedusae, formerly called Lucernariida, comprises some 30 described species of nonswimming, stalked jellies. These species occur chiefly in cooler waters. They are goblet-shaped and fixed by a basal stalk; the mouth is situated at the upper end. Ranging from 1 to 10 cm (0.4 to 4 inches) in diameter, the body has a tetradiate design and typically bears eight clusters of tentacles. Some species can detach and resettle. Stauromedusae usually feed on small marine animals and live for several years. Development is direct from a larva into an adult. The polyp stage, which it resembles, is suppressed. The class Cubozoa contains only one order, Cubomedusae, which some biologists still place under the class Scyphozoa. Cubomedusae comprises about 50 described species. Although some reach a diameter of 25 cm (10 inches), most range between 2 to 4 cm (1 to 2 inches). The jelly is rather spherical but squared off along the edges, giving rise to the common name of box jellies. The genera Chironex and Chiropsalmus, commonly called sea wasps, occur widely from Queensland northward to about Malaya. These forms are dangerously venomous; a moderate sting can cause death within a few minutes. In all the box jellies so far studied, the polyp stage does not bud off but metamorphoses (i.e., develops completely) into a single adult. See also cnidarian; hydroid; medusa; Portuguese man-of-war.