#I tend to know jellyfish from other classes and phyla by common name haha (it's a bit embarrassing... I still need more time to learn about

[the-jellydex]

Jellyfish Common Names vs Scientific Names

Those who've known me for a while know that I typically prefer remembering a jellyfish's scientific name over their common name, but why?

Well... it's mostly for simplicity's sake. Jellyfish have been around a lot longer than humans have, and as a result, many species have accumulated multiple confusing and misleading names. It's just easier to know them by scientific name, which typically have more of the truth in mind.

Many more don't even have a common name... so it's also sort of a thing I do to keep things consistent.

Also, some scientific names are really cool. Like for this jellyfish:

Would you rather call it the "Black Sea Nettle" or the Chrysaora achlyos? (I talk about the etymology here if you're interested in knowing the names of the Greek Deities that make up its name. It's very cool and would take way too long for me to explain on this post)