Coronamedusae is a subclass of

jellyfish Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, 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 animal ...

in the class

Scyphozoa 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 ...

. It is the sister

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

Discomedusae Discomedusae is a subclass of jellyfish in the class Scyphozoa. It is the sister taxon of Coronamedusae. Discomedusae contains about 155 named species and there are likely to be many more as yet Undescribed taxon, undescribed. Jellyfish in this ...

and contains about 50 named species, all included in the order Coronatae. Jellyfish in this subclass are either small

medusae 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, althoug ...

living in shallow marine environments, or large medusae living in the deep sea. The mouthparts of the members of this subclass are characterised by simple lips on a short

manubrium The sternum (: sternums or sterna) or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, human lung, lungs, and ma ...

as well as by robust marginal tentacles that arc away from the mouth. It is likely that these marginal tentacles are used to capture

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

, including

crustacea Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

ns and small

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

in the larger species.

Coronatae

Coronatae is the only order in this subclass, with around thirty-five species having been described, most of them deepwater jellyfish. The

thimble jellyfish The thimble jellyfish (''Linuche unguiculata'') is a species of cnidarian found in the warm West Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean. It is a tiny jellyfish with a straight-sided, flat-topped bell. This jellyfish is the most common cause of ...

(''Linuche unguiculata'') is a tiny species, and one of the few from shallow tropical seas; It is a zooxanthellate species. Coronatids have a characteristic constriction, the coronal groove, part way down the bell. Below this the bell is creased and lobed into four pedalia. Each pedalium bears a small non-retractible tentacle, and the margin of the bell bears either four or eight rhopalia (sensory organs) in the niches between flaps known as lappets. The coronal groove and the creases provide flexibility in the otherwise rather stiff bell. The short manubrium is four-sided and has a large mouth at its tip. The mouth opens into a central stomach which is divided into four pockets by septa, on which are located the gastric filaments and the eight gonads. Most coronatids search for prey with outstretched tentacles; when food items are found, they are subdued and pushed rather stiffly into the mouth by the tentacles.

Taxonomy

According to the

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

, Coronamedusae contains the following taxa: * Order

Coronatae 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 phyloge ...

** Family

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 ...

Bigelow, 1913 ** Family

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 ** Family

incertae sedis ** Family

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, 1880 ** Family

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) ...

(Claus, 1883) ** Family Paraphyllinidae Maas, 1903 ** Family

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

References

Scyphozoa {{Scyphozoa-stub