Class Scyphozoa The class scyphozoa is approximately made up of 4 orders, 2 suborders, 24 families, 11 subfamilies, 71 genera and over 220

species. Members from this class, commonly referred to as jellyfish, inhabit all the oceans and seas of the world, from the tropics to the Arctic and Antarctic. The majority of the species live in shallow coastal waters, though there are species have been found in deep seas. (Hale, 1999) Scyphozoans are referred to as true jellyfish. Their form or morphology is described as medusoid. Medusoid is a body plan of cnidaria that is in the shape of an inverted bell. The outermost layer is called the ectoderm. And the inner layer, or the endoderm, is filled with jelly-like substance called the mesoglea, thus the name jellyfish. Jellyfish have only one opening that serves as both mouth and anus. The mouth, and/or anus, is borne at the end of a muscular cylinder known as the manubrium (Pechenik, 2011). There are tentacles that extend downward from the bell-shaped body and are studded with nematocysts for capturing food. Most have oral arms near the opening used to aid in transporting the food into the mouth. The food travels through the manubrium, gastrovascular canals and to the cavity that function for digestion. Jellyfish occur in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors. They are 97 percent water and are semi-transparent or glassy. Regardless of their size or shape, most jellyfish are very fragile, often containing less than 5% solid organic matter (Arai,1997). Scyphozoans also lack brains, eyes, heart, gills and ears. Instead, they possess a simpler nervous system consisting of very efficient recpetors capable of detecting light, odor, and other stimuli. Receptors called statocyst are for balance; ocelli for detecting light; and sensory lappets for detecting touch or stimulus. These receptors are distributed at the margins of club-shaped structures called rhopalia that hang around the bell-shaped body. If the animal tilts in a particular direction, the statocysts press against the cilia, causing the nerve cells to generate their action potentials. This system provides a mechanism through which the animal can become informed of its orientation and can alter its posture by stronger contractions on one side of the bell (Arai, 1997). These animals drift in the medium but are also able to swim actively. Their movement is caused by the contraction of muscles that occur in pairs and the exploitation of mechanical processes of mesoglea. When these pair of circular and radial muscles contract, the volume of water enclosed under the bell decreases and causes the propelling action of the animal. The net forward movement occurs because the speed with which the bell contracts exceeds that speed with which the bell recoils to its resting state (Pechenik, 1995). Jellyfish have a two part life cyle: the free-swimming medusa and substrate-dwelling polyp. The medusa is either a make or a female that produce an egg or sperm for sexual reproduction. The gametes are contained in the gonads which are located within gastrodermal tissue and are associated with the gastric pouches. When the egg and sperm unit, they form a larva called the planula. The planula then drifts in the medium to find a suitable place or substrate for it to attach to. Later on, the planula develops to be a bottom-dwelling polyp called scyphistoma. The scyphistomas morphology is similar to the morpholody of the medusa having two layers, but with thinner mesoglea and mouth is oriented away from the substrate. It undergoes transverse binary fission also called strobilation, a defining

characteristic of scyphozoans. The scyphistoma body lacks statocysts and ocelli. The ends of the scyphistoma then develop into immature medusa forms called ephyra. Eventually, the ephyra detaches from the scyphistoma and become a mature free-swimming medusa. Pechenik, Jan A. 2011. Biology of the Invertebrates 6th Edition. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. pages 104-108. Hickman, Cleveland P., et. Al. 1993. Integrated Principles of Zoology 9 th Edition. Mosby-Year Book, Inc. pages 338-341. Gale, Garron. 1999. The Classification and Distribution of the Class Scyphozoa. Pages 5-12.