Crown jellyfishes are the six

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

true jellyfish The Scyphozoa are an exclusively marine class of the phylum Cnidaria, referred to as the true jellyfish (or "true jellies"). The class name Scyphozoa comes from the Greek word ''skyphos'' (), denoting a kind of drinking cup and alluding to the ...

that belong to the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Coronatae.Daly, Brugler, Cartwright, Collins, Dawson, Fautin, France, McFadden, Opresko, Rodriguez, Romano & Stake (2007).
The phylum Cnidaria: A review of phylogenetic patterns and diversity 300 years after Linnaeus.
' Zootaxa 1668: 127–182 They are distinguished from other jellyfish by the presence of a deep groove running around the umbrella, giving them the

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

shape from which they take their name. Many of the species in the order inhabit deep sea environments. Crown jellyfish are able to make light through

bioluminescence Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorgani ...

. When they are touched, their bells will light up. Otherwise, the bell of a crown jellyfish will look transparent when undisturbed. When they are attacked, crown jellyfish are able to startle, mislead, and distract their predators with the light that they produce. They may also use their bioluminescence to lure or dazzle their prey.

Families

, 53 recognized

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

species were in the order Coronatae, spread throughout 12 genera. These belong in the following six families: *

Atollidae ''Atolla'' is a genus of crown jellyfish in the order Coronatae. The genus ''Atolla'' was originally proposed by Haeckel in 1880 and elevated to the monotypic family level, as Atollidae by Henry Bigelow in 1913. The six known species inhabit t ...

(Hickson, 1906)— one genus, seven species *

Atorellidae ''Atorella'' is a genus of crown jellyfish. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Atorellidae and includes five species. Members of this family are known from the eastern coast of Africa and the western coast of Panama. Characteristics Me ...

(Vanhöffen, 1902)— one genus, five species *

Coronatae incertae sedis Crown jellyfishes are the six families of true jellyfish that belong to the order Coronatae.Daly, Brugler, Cartwright, Collins, Dawson, Fautin, France, McFadden, Opresko, Rodriguez, Romano & Stake (2007). The phylum Cnidaria: A review of phylog ...

— one genus, four species ** ''

Stephanoscyphistoma ''Stephanoscyphistoma'' is a genus of crown jellyfish.Collins, A.G.; Morandini, A.C. (2023). World List of Scyphozoa''Stephanoscyphistoma'' Jarms, 1990 Accessed through World Register of Marine Species on 2023-06-06. Its taxonomic placement has b ...

'' (Jarms, 1990) *

Linuchidae Linuchidae is a family of crown jellyfish.Collins, A.G.; Morandini, A.C. (2023). World List of ScyphozoaLinuchidae Haeckel, 1880 Accessed through World Register of Marine Species on 2023-06-06. Species *'' Linantha'' **'' Linantha lunulata'' *' ...

(

Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; ; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new s ...

, 1880)— three genera, four species *

Nausithoidae Nausithoidae is a family of jellyfish. Genera *''Nausithoe'' ** '' Nausithoe albatrossi'' (Maas, 1897) ** '' Nausithoe atlantica'' (Broch, 1914) ** '' Nausithoe aurea'' Da Silveira & Morandini, 1997 ** '' Nausithoe challengeri'' (Haeckel, 1880) ...

(Haeckel, 1880)— three genera, 26 species * Paraphyllinidae (Mass, 1903)— one genus, three species *

Periphyllidae Periphyllidae is a family of jellyfish containing four genera and six species. The most well-known member of the family, ''Periphylla periphylla'', is usually considered a deep-sea species, but it forms large blooms in surface waters of Norwegian ...

(Haeckel, 1880)— four genera, six species Image:Atolla wyvillei (Operation Deep Scope 2004).jpg, ''

Atolla wyvillei ''Atolla wyvillei'', also known as the Atolla jellyfish, Coronate medusa, and deep-sea jellyfish, is a species of deep-sea crown jellyfish (Scyphozoa: Coronatae). It lives in oceans around the world. Like many species of mid-water animals, it is ...

'' Image:Medusae of world-vol03 fig352-353 Nausithoë punctata.jpg, ''

Nausithoe punctata ''Nausithoe punctata'' is a species of crown jellyfish Crown jellyfishes are the six family (biology), families of Scyphozoa, true jellyfish that belong to the Order (biology), order Coronatae.Daly, Brugler, Cartwright, Collins, Dawson, Fautin, ...

'' Image:Haeckel Peromedusae.jpg, '' Periphylla periphylla''

References

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