This is the chronicle of Cnider,
Who sat upon a rock so wide
And built on each side of his throne
A row of mouths, his very own.
With tentacles reaching down below,
A great column all aglow,
He made his city on the stone
Where he would rule all alone.
His fishermen in lines he placed,
A Siphonoglyph, perfectly spaced.
Down each mouth, with skillful art,
Each played their fishing part.
Great Cnider made a sacred pact
With Luna, keeping their contract.
By her blessing, bright and true,
On the full moon he bore two.
Two sons came in her silver light:
Traditional Anthus, shining bright,
And bold Anaxydros the new,
Whose innovations would shine through.
To this day when Luna's face
Shines full upon the watery place,
The sons of Cnider and fair Nettle
Their reproductive matters settle.
By moonlight they bear their young,
As Luna's ancient song is sung.
The tidal pull, the silver beam
Fulfill their reproductive dream.
Now Anthus kept the ancient way,
Following tradition's display.
His children built their homes on stone
And never far from land they'd roam.
But bold Anaxydros chose to change,
His innovations were strange.
From him came children two:
Pompom and Meduson true.
Great Pompom chose the stalked path,
To weather time and nature's wrath.
He built upon the ocean floor
And opened innovation's door.
From Pompom came two sons of might:
Conos and Stauros, burning bright.
The stalked jellyfish they became,
Adding to their ancestor's fame.
But Meduson chose a different way,
He would not on the bottom stay.
A new city he did build
That with wanderlust was filled.
His city floated in the sea,
Drifting wild and drifting free.
The ancestor of jellyfish,
He granted their floating wish.
At first he had no direction,
Just aimless drift without connection.
He picked up what he could find
While floating with the tide.
But soon an idea came to him
As he floated, free to swim:
"Why should I drift where currents go?
I'll pump and swim both high and low!"
He learned to pump his body tight
And shoot through water with delight.
No more would he helpless drift—
His swimming was his gift.
Meanwhile the sons of Anthus grew
Across the oceans, deep and blue.
Among them were the Anemones,
Who swayed like flowered trees.
And Corals built their cities grand
Upon the ocean's shifting sand.
With Zooxanthellae they'd farm
And keep their cities free from harm.
Zoochlorellae, green and bright,
Helped them capture morning light.
These partnerships would make
The reefs for others' sake.
From Meduson came children two:
Bold Diplos and sweet Jelly true.
Each would take a different path
Through ocean's joy and wrath.
Fair Jelly bore two mighty lines
Of jellyfish with grand designs:
The Cubozoans, box-shaped, wise,
Who learned to use their eyes.
And Scyphozoans, "True Jellyfish,"
Who granted many a sailor's wish
To see their beauty in the deep
Where ocean secrets keep.
The sons of Scyphos numbered high,
Beneath the sea and sky.
Each polyp bore a myriad young
Whose praises would be sung.
Pacific Sea Nettle swam
Through waters like a swimming ram.
Their trailing tentacles so long
Made predators think twice.
But Cubos was a father kind,
With caring heart and mind.
He bore but few children dear
And held each one near.
We pray to Cubos when we seek
To be fathers strong, not weak.
His example shows the way
To care for young each day.
The eyes of Cubos, complex, true,
Could see through waters blue.
No simple spots of light were these,
But eyes that truly seize.
Each detail in the liquid space,
Each movement, form, and face.
The box jellyfish today
Still see in Cubos' way.
From Cnider's ancient line
Came forms both crude and fine.
Some stayed upon the rocky shore
While others chose to soar.
The anemones wave their arms
Like flowers with their charms.
But touch them and you'll feel the sting
Of cnidocytes' ring.
The corals build their reefs so grand,
Cities throughout the land
Beneath the waves they rise
Like underwater skies.
Each polyp in its cup
Reaches tentacles up
To catch the food that drifts
Through water's gentle shifts.
The jellyfish that swim so free
Through every part of sea
Show us how to move with grace
Through life's embrace.
Some drift with current's flow,
Others choose where they go.
Each strategy has its place
In ocean's vast space.
The cnidarian way
Lives on in every bay
Where tentacles reach out
Without a doubt.
From Cnider's rocky throne
His children, fully grown,
Spread through the waters wide
With tentacles as guide.
In every sting you feel
From jellyfish so real,
Remember Cnider's art
That gave them their start.
The radial symmetry
Of their biology
Shows patterns clean and true
In everything they do.
So honor great Cnider,
That ancient provider
Who sat upon his stone
And made the sea his own.
His covenant with Luna's light
Still guides them through the night.
When the full moon shines above,
They make their spawn with love.
The cnidarians today
Still follow Cnider's way:
With tentacles they hunt
And do their survival stunt.
From simple to complex,
From polyp to apex,
The jellyfish still roam
Through ocean's salty foam.