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Is Jellyfish kosher?

No — Jellyfish is not kosher under Jewish dietary law.

Not kosher. Jellyfish are cnidarians with no fins and no scales.

Jellyfish (Scyphozoa)

Image: Photo by Derek Keats · licensed CC BY-SA 2.0 · source

Scientific name
Scyphozoa
Also known as
Moon jelly, Box jelly, Cnidaria
Category
shellfish
Fins & scales
No fins ✗ , no scales ✗
Kosher status
Not kosher

About Jellyfish

Gelatinous, free-swimming marine invertebrates. Sometimes dried and eaten in Asian cuisine. 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 (σκύφος), denoting a kind of drinking cup and alluding to the cup shape of the organism. Scyphozoans have existed from the earliest Cambrian to the present. 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 (σκύφος), denoting a kind of drinking cup and alluding to the cup shape of the organism. Scyphozoans have existed from the earliest Cambrian to the present. Biology Most species of Scyphozoa have two life-history phases, including the planktonic medusa or polyp form, which is most evident in the warm summer months, and an inconspicuous, but longer-lived, bottom-dwelling polyp, which seasonally gives rise to new medusae. Most of the large, often colorful, and conspicuous jellyfish found in coastal waters throughout the world are Scyphozoa. They typically range from 2 to 40 cm (1 to 15+1⁄2 in) in diameter, but the largest species, Cyanea capillata can reach 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) across. Scyphomedusae are found throughout the world's oceans, from the surface to great depths; no Scyphozoa occur in freshwater (or on land). As medusae, they eat a variety of crustaceans and fish, which they capture using stinging cells called nematocysts. The nematocysts are located throughout the tentacles that radiate...

Kosher ruling

Not kosher. Jellyfish are cnidarians with no fins and no scales.

Source: Orthodox Union; Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0); Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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