Parenchymula

parenchymula

[‚par·əŋ′kim·yə·lə] (invertebrate zoology) The flagellate larva of calcinean sponges in which there is a cavity filled with gelatinous connective tissue.

Parenchymula

 

one of the free-swimming larval stages of sponges and numerous coelenterates. The elongated oval body consists of flagellate ectodermal cells and a mass of entodermal cells (parenchyma). In sponges, the parenchymula settles to the bottom and becomes attached; in coelenterates, it changes into the planula stage.