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Pacific sea nettles, Chrysaora fuscescens. Cnidaria (/ n ɪ ˈ d ɛər i ə, n aɪ-/ nih-DAIR-ee-ə, NY-) [4] is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species [5] of aquatic invertebrates found both in fresh water and marine environments (predominantly the latter), including jellyfish, hydroids, sea anemones, corals and some of the smallest marine parasites.
The cnidae, the explosive cells characteristic of the Cnidaria and used in prey capture and defence, are of a single type, there being nematocysts but no spirocysts or ptychocysts. [4] In contrast, the anthozoan life cycle involves a planula larva which settles and becomes a sessile polyp, which is the adult or sexual phase. [11]
Siphonophorae (from Greek siphōn 'tube' + pherein 'to bear' [2]) is an order within Hydrozoa, which is a class of marine organisms within the phylum Cnidaria.According to the World Register of Marine Species, the order contains 175 species described thus far.
Polypodium was long considered a unique intracellular parasite among cnidarians. [6] [7] Its hosts include 14 species of Acipenser, 2 species of Huso, Polyodon spathula [6] and Scaphirhynchus platorynchus. [2] Polypodium hydriforme is an endocellular parasite with an unusual life cycle, a peculiar morphology, and high rates of DNA evolution.
The tree of life or universal tree of life is a metaphor, conceptual model, and research tool used to explore the evolution of life and describe the relationships between organisms, both living and extinct, as described in a famous passage in Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859). [1]
Unlike some other cnidarian groups, the lining of the central cavity lacks stinging nematocysts, which are found only on the tentacles and outer surface. All colonial hydrozoans also include some polyps specialized for reproduction. These lack tentacles and contain numerous buds from which the medusoid stage of the life cycle is produced.
Hence ctenophores and cnidarians have traditionally been labelled diploblastic. [18] [20] Both ctenophores and cnidarians have a type of muscle that, in more complex animals, arises from the middle cell layer, [21] and as a result some recent text books classify ctenophores as triploblastic, [22] while others still regard them as diploblastic. [18]
Various trees of life are recounted in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to immortality or fertility.They had their origin in religious symbolism. According to professor Elvyra Usačiovaitė, a "typical" imagery preserved in ancient iconography is that of two symmetrical figures facing each other, with a tree standing in the middle.