phylum Cnidaria

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

phylum Cnidaria - hydras; polyps; jellyfishes; sea anemones; coralsCnidaria, Coelenterata, phylum CoelenterataMetazoa, subkingdom Metazoa - multicellular animals having cells differentiated into tissues and organs and usually a digestive cavity and nervous systemcnidarian, coelenterate - radially symmetrical animals having saclike bodies with only one opening and tentacles with stinging structures; they occur in polyp and medusa formspolyp - one of two forms that coelenterates take (e.g. a hydra or coral): usually sedentary with a hollow cylindrical body usually with a ring of tentacles around the mouth; "in some species of coelenterate, polyps are a phase in the life cycle that alternates with a medusoid phase"medusan, medusoid, medusa - one of two forms that coelenterates take: it is the free-swimming sexual phase in the life cycle of a coelenterate; in this phase it has a gelatinous umbrella-shaped body and tentaclesclass Scyphozoa, Scyphozoa - coelenterates in which the polyp stage is absent or at least inconspicuous: jellyfishesjellyfish - any of numerous usually marine and free-swimming coelenterates that constitute the sexually reproductive forms of hydrozoans and scyphozoansclass Hydrozoa, Hydrozoa - coelenterates typically having alternation of generations; hydroid phase is usually colonial giving rise to the medusoid phase by budding: hydras and jellyfishesActinozoa, Anthozoa, class Actinozoa, class Anthozoa - a large class of sedentary marine coelenterates that includes sea anemones and corals; the medusoid phase is entirely suppressedphylum - (biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes