Question

Write scientific classification of jellyfish? Give characteristics of it?

Answer 1

Hint:
Phylum Cnidaria includes jellyfishes. Scyphozoa, Cubozoa, Staurozoa, etc are some informal
classification of jellyfishes. Jellyfishes are mainly free-swimming animals but some of them are sessile.
Tentacles help them to catch their prey.

Complete answer:
Jellyfish belongs to kingdom Animalia, phylum – Cnidaria and class Scyphozoa. It includes 200 described
species while class Cubozoa includes approximately 20 species. Some of the unrelated forms such as
comb jellies belong to phylum Ctenophora and salps belong to the phylum Chordata. On the basis of
movement Scyphozoan jellyfish can be divided into two types that are free-swimming medusa and those
that are sessile. Order Stauromedusae included sessile polyp like forms. The grouping of animals
informally in Medusozoa includes Pacific sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens) that involves Scyphozoa- true
jellyfish, Cubozoa-box jellyfish, Staurozoa- stalked jellyfish, some Hydrozoa-small jellyfish.
Jellyfishes have specific characteristics such as: the bell which pulsates to provide propulsion and
efficient locomotion. The tentacles used to capture prey and defend against predators. Life cycle of
jellyfish are very complex. The sexual phase is called as medusa and planula larva can disperse widely and is followed by a sedentary polyp phase.Scyphozoan jellyfish mainly occurs in all oceans. It includes disk shaped animals that are often found drifting along the shoreline.

Note:
Scyphozoan jellyfishes can survive for only a few weeks while some of them can survive a year or longer.
The bodies of the most fishes range about 2 to 40 cm (1 to 16 inches) in diameter. Some of the
species are considerably larger. Most of them feed on copepods, fish larvae, and other small animals.
About 30 species of deep sea jellyfishes are included in the order Coronatae.