Facts about Cnidarians

• Scientific name: Cnidaria.
• Common name(s): Coelenterates, corals, jellyfish, hydrozoans.
• Basic animal group: invertebrate.
• Size: 3/5 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.

Animals are multicellular eukaryotic organisms. They have a heterotrophic mode of nutrition as they take nutrients from other organisms. Moreover, the central vacuole is absent in animals and they store food as glycogen or fat. Furthermore, Animals can transmit impulses due to the presence of nerve cells, Sponges do not have nerve cells. The broad classification of Animalia is based on common fundamental features such as Levels of organization (cellular level and tissue/organ/organ system), symmetry (Radial and Bilateral), Body cavity or coelom, Phylum( Porifera, Coelenterata, Ctenophora, Platyhelminthes, Aschelminthes, Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca, Echinodermata, Hemichordata and Chordata). The cellular level of the organization includes sponges, tissue level includes coelenterate, and one The term Phylum was coined by Georges Leopold Cuvier(1829). Let us have an overview of Phylum Coelenterata.