The Cnidarian's Stages Of Life
The Cnidarian is known for its life cycle. There are two stages of life involved called the Polyp and Medusae. The polyp is the plant life of the sea that is usually tubular and attached to stationary objects within the water. The tentacles on the polyp are usually pointed upward and flared out to atract and pull in prey. The Medusae is the jellyfish looking creature. They float around in the water and look like umbrellas. The mouths are located on the Concave or the inside of the creature with tentacles surrounding the creature. This type of creature actually has many types of animals within its phylum. The phylum of the creature has a few different creatures and numerous types of jellyfish. To focus upon the creature I would like to focus on three types: Hydrozoans, Jellyfish, and Sea Anemones.
The Hydrozoa is a subgroup of the Cnidarian that constantly gets confused for the Jellyfish. “ The Hydrozoa has over 3700 types in this subgroup and is distinguished by its variety of life cycles, growth forms, and specialized structures” (Hammond, 2014). As a Polyp and the Medusa the Hydrozoa looks and acts just like a jellyfish and its stages of life. The only difference between the Hydrozoa and …show more content…
the jellyfish is the formation or the birth Medusa, few differences in structure and the Polyp life. As a polyp the Hydrozoa is the plant on the ocean floor that also lives in colonies. Sea Anemones and Jellyfish polyps usually live in very small groups, or most likely live as a single plant. The other distinguished difference “ is by the growth of medusae from buds rather than strobilae or from metamorphosis, by the presence of a velum inside the bell of the medusa, and by the production of gametes from ectodermal, rather than endodermal, tissue” (Hammond, 2014).
Jellyfish are the creatures that spend most of their lives in the Medusa stage and float around.
They come in many different species, sizes, and colors. Out of all the subgroups in the Cnidarian phylum; the jellyfish is the most diverse of all the species such as Scyphozoa: The brightly colored and bigger jellyfish that people think about when they hear jellyfish, Cubozoa:They are the Box Jellyfish that contain the most poison, and have the most developed nervous system, and the Staurozoa: the least known jellyfish that actually do not float in the water, but attach themselves to rocks and other plants to survive and feed. The jellyfish can come from 1 cm to 6 feet wide. The jellyfish also is the creature that tends to use the “nerve net” more than the other
creatures.
The Hydrozoa is a subgroup of the Cnidarian that constantly gets confused for the Jellyfish. “ The Hydrozoa has over 3700 types in this subgroup and is distinguished by its variety of life cycles, growth forms, and specialized structures” (Hammond, 2014). As a Polyp and the Medusa the Hydrozoa looks and acts just like a jellyfish and its stages of life. The only difference between the Hydrozoa and …show more content…
the jellyfish is the formation or the birth Medusa, few differences in structure and the Polyp life. As a polyp the Hydrozoa is the plant on the ocean floor that also lives in colonies. Sea Anemones and Jellyfish polyps usually live in very small groups, or most likely live as a single plant. The other distinguished difference “ is by the growth of medusae from buds rather than strobilae or from metamorphosis, by the presence of a velum inside the bell of the medusa, and by the production of gametes from ectodermal, rather than endodermal, tissue” (Hammond, 2014).
Jellyfish are the creatures that spend most of their lives in the Medusa stage and float around.
They come in many different species, sizes, and colors. Out of all the subgroups in the Cnidarian phylum; the jellyfish is the most diverse of all the species such as Scyphozoa: The brightly colored and bigger jellyfish that people think about when they hear jellyfish, Cubozoa:They are the Box Jellyfish that contain the most poison, and have the most developed nervous system, and the Staurozoa: the least known jellyfish that actually do not float in the water, but attach themselves to rocks and other plants to survive and feed. The jellyfish can come from 1 cm to 6 feet wide. The jellyfish also is the creature that tends to use the “nerve net” more than the other
creatures.