Abstract
Older textbooks (e.g., Borradaile et al., 1935) recognized the phylum Coelenterata for animals that are primarily radially symmetrical and which have a body wall of two tissue layers and a single external aperture. The two major coelenterate groups, the Cnidaria and the Ctenophora, originally subphyla, are today upgraded to phyla. The Cnidaria take their name from stinging organelles (cnidocysts or cnidae) found throughout the taxon, which includes benthic hydroids and corals and pelagic medusae and jelly fish. The name Ctenophora means comb-bearing, and it refers to characteristic bands of locomotory comb-like cilia. Practically all ctenophores are planktonic.
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© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Williamson, D.I. (2003). Coelenterate Animals. In: The Origins of Larvae. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0357-4_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0357-4_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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