Hydrozoa
Sign in to saveHydrozoa (hydrozoans; from Ancient Greek ('''') 'water' and ('''') 'animals') is a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial species can be large, and in some cases the specialized individual animals cannot survive outside the colony. A few genera within this class live in freshwater habitats. Hydrozoans are related to jellyfish and corals, which also belong to the phylum Cnidaria.
AI overview
Hydrozoans are tiny predatory animals that mostly live in saltwater, either alone or in colonies, and are closely related to jellyfish and corals. Some form large colonies where individual animals become so specialized they cannot survive on their own, making them important examples of how simple organisms can develop complex cooperative structures.
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Article
8 sectionsContents
- Anatomy
- Polyps
- Medusae
- Life cycle
- Systematics and evolution
- Other classifications
- References
- External links
Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; from Ancient Greek ('''') 'water' and ('''') 'animals') is a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial species can be large, and in some cases the specialized individual animals cannot survive outside the colony. A few genera within this class live in freshwater habitats. Hydrozoans are related to jellyfish and corals, which also belong to the phylum Cnidaria.
Some examples of hydrozoans are the freshwater jelly (Craspedacusta sowerbyi), freshwater polyps (Hydra), Obelia, Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis), chondrophores (Porpitidae), and pink-hearted hydroids (Tubularia).