Alexis Skijarevski, age 12, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, for his question:

How do they classify iellyfishes?

The 200 jellyfish species, plus more than 8,000 other soft bodied sea creatures, are classified in the family Coelenterata    meaning hollow stomach. The phylum is subdivided into three major classes to accommodate the hydra types, the coral types and the true jellyfishes. The class of 200 jellyfish is Scyphozoa, which means the cup animals. All of them have cup shaped umbrellas and most of them have trailing tentacles. They range from one inch midgets to an arctic giant with an umbrella eight feet wide and trailing tentacles 200 feet long.

The class Scyphozoa includes five orders and each jellyfish belongs in a small genus group and has a species name of his own. Many common medium sized jellyfish belong in the order Semaeostomeae, which means flag mouth. The arctic giant also belongs in this order. His genus and species name is Cyanea arctica. Many of our common offshore jellyfish of this order are in the genus Aurelia. The one most likely to get washed up on the beach is Aurelia aurita.