sea pansy
sea pansy,
fleshy, leaf-shaped colony of marine organisms belonging to the genus Renilla in the same phylum as the jellyfish. The colony consists of a stalk formed by a large organism called a primary polyp (see polyp and medusapolyp and medusa,names for the two body forms, one nonmotile and one typically free swimming, found in the aquatic invertebrate phylum Cnidaria (the coelenterates). Some animals of this group are always polyps, some are always medusae, and some exhibit both a polyp and a medusa
..... Click the link for more information. ) that is thrust into soft bottom material; the upper part of the stalk is composed of several kinds of secondary polyps. Sea pansies are handsome creatures; the reddish to purple upper stalk is studded with white polyps and is brilliantly luminescent. The colonies occur in the warmer regions of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Sea pansies are classified in the phylum CnidariaCnidaria
or Coelenterata
, phylum of invertebrate animals comprising the sea anemones, corals, jellyfish, and hydroids. Cnidarians are radially symmetrical (see symmetry, biological).
..... Click the link for more information. , class Anthozoa, order Pennatulacea.