Cnidaria
-Cnidaria is a phylum containing over 10,000 species of animals found exclusively in aquatic environments: they are predominantly marine species. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that
they use mainly for capturing prey
- With thousands of species, cnidarians are diverse in their habitat and are distributed in all the world's oceans, in polar, temerate and tropical waters. They are found in a variety of water depths and closeness to shore - depending on the species, they may live anywhere from shallow, coastal habitats to the deep sea
​Structures and Functions- Polyp - a cylindrical form which attaches to something by the aboral end of the body and extends tentacles around the oral end.
- Medusa - a flattened, oral opening down, bell shaped form; moves freely in the water, tentacles dangle from the oral surface pointing down.​
- Classes
Hydrozoa - switch between polyp and medusa stages
Scyphozoa - live most of their life in the medusa stage
Anthozoa - only polyp stage.
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*Jelly fish*
*Sea anenome*
*Anthozoa*
*Scyphozoa*
*Box jellyfish*
*Myxozoa*