Ctenophora, commonly known as comb jellies, is a basal phylum of marine invertebrate animals notable for swimming with groups of cilia called combs, found in marine habitats worldwide with 186 recognised living species. They are the largest animals to swim using cilia, ranging from a few millimetres to as much as 1.5 metres, with a body of jelly-like mesoglea between two cell-thick layers, and body forms that include the egg-shaped cydippids with retractable tentacles, the flat combless platyctenids, and the large-mouthed beroids that prey on other ctenophores. Almost all are predators, and although their soft bodies rarely fossilise, possible ctenophore fossils appear in well-preserved beds dating back to the early Cambrian, about 525 million years ago.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Living or Extinct Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceMost species have eight comb rows running the length of the body 1 Scientific Name Connections
Child Taxon Of
In Biome
In Ecosystem
Source Wikipedia: Ctenophora
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Ctenophora
Etymology, sentence 1
The New Latin name Ctenophora
Distinguishing features, paragraph 3
Most species have eight strips, called comb rows, that run the length of their bodies
- marine invertebrate animals, inhabit marine habitats worldwide
lead paragraph (diet), EntityId 295853
Almost all ctenophores are predators, feeding on prey ranging from microscopic larvae and rotifers to the adults of small crustaceans; the exceptions are juveniles of two species, which live as parasites on the salps on which adul
In Ecosystem: Caspian Sea, Ecological impacts
In the late 1990s Mnemiopsis appeared in the Caspian Sea.
In Group: Comb Jellies (Ctenophora), Lead
Ctenophora (; from Ancient Greek κτείς (kteis) 'comb' and φέρω (pherō) 'to carry') or ctenophores (), commonly known as comb jellies, is a basal phylum of marine invertebrate animals notable for their unique aquatic locomotion using groups of cilia (commonly referred to as "combs").
View the Source2. Wikidata (taxon extant/extinct status)
Wikimedia Foundation / Wikidata contributorsQ102778, descriptionView the Source Wikidata: Ctenophora
- Wikidata Q102778, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Child Taxon Of: Animalia, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chain
- In Biome: Marine, Introduction
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