What are 5 facts about cnidarians?
Fast Facts: Cnidarians
- Scientific Name: Cnidaria.
- Common Name(s): Coelenterates, corals, jellyfish, sea anemones, sea pens, hydrozoans.
- Basic Animal Group: Invertebrate.
- Size: 3/4 of an inch to 6.5 feet in diameter; up to 250 feet long.
- Weight: Up to 440 pounds.
- Lifespan: A few days to more than 4,000 years.
- Diet: Carnivore.
What is unique about cnidarians?
Phylum Cnidaria is also known as Phylum Coelenterate. This phylum consists of radially or radially symmetrical aquatic invertebrates having unique stinging structures in the tentacles surrounding the mouth. The organisms of this species mainly belong to marine life, and hardly a few live in freshwater.
What is the importance of cnidarians?
Cnidarian ecology is a complex subject indeed, because it is cnidarians, in particular corals, that are the builders of some of the richest and most complex ecosystems on the planet, coral reefs. Other cnidarians are important as predators in the open ocean. Cnidarians generally occupy two major niches.
What are the characteristics of phylum?
The phylum has the following distinguishing characteristics:
- These are pore-bearing multicellular animals.
- The body has no organs.
- They exhibit holozoic nutrition.
- The body is radially symmetrical.
- They can regenerate their lost parts.
Where do cnidarians live?
oceans
Cnidarians are found in many aquatic environments. Sea anemones are widely distributed, from cold arctic waters to the equator, from shallow tide pools to the bottom of the deep ocean. Jellyfish float near the surface of the open oceans and in some tropical freshwater lakes.
What is the habitat of phylum Cnidaria?
Cnidarians can be found in almost all ocean habitats. They may live in water that is shallow or deep, warm or cold. A few species live in freshwater. Some cnidarians live alone, while others live in colonies.
What are some uses of Cnidaria?
Sea anemones are eaten in some areas of Asia and North America. Throughout the tropics where reefs are accessible, coral skeletons are used as building material, either in blocks or slaked to create cement. Another use for cnidarian skeletons is in jewelry.
What are 4 main characteristics of Cnidaria?
The five main characteristics of cnidarians are:
- Radial symmetry.
- Diploblastic animals.
- Tissue level of organisation.
- Presence of cnidoblasts with stinging nematocysts on the tentacles.
- Polymorphism and have two body forms, i.e. polyp and medusa.
How are cnidarians classified?
Cnidarians are classified into four main groups: non-moving (sessile) Anthozoa (sea anemones, corals, sea pens); Cubozoa (box jellies);swimming Scyphozoa (jellyfish); and Hydrozoa, a broad group that includes all the freshwater cnidarians as well as many marine forms.