What are jellies?
Jellyfish are animals. Chemically, jellies are composed of at least 95 percent water with some proteins and salts making up the other 5 percent of their bodies. True jellyfish belong to the Phylum Cnidaria along with corals and sea anemones. Comb jellies (Phylum Ctenophora) are not “true” jellyfish because they lack those really important stinging cells. Other jelly-like critters include a variety of swimming mollusks (sea butterflies and sea elephants) and pelagic tunicates (salps, doliolids, and pyrosomes). The characteristic that unites all these unrelated animals is their delicate gelatinous tissue.
