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polyp and medusa

polyp and medusa, names for the two body forms, one nonmotile and one typically free swimming, found in the aquatic invertebrate phylum Cnidaria (the coelenterates). Some animals of this group are always polyps, some are always medusae, and some exhibit both a polyp and a medusa stage in their life cycle. The polyp is a sessile, or nonmotile, organism; well-known solitary polyps are the sea anemone and the freshwater hydra. The medusa, when free swimming, is popularly known as a jellyfish.

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The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

More on polyp and medusa from Infoplease:

polyp and medusa: Reproduction - Reproduction In organisms that exhibit both forms, such as members of the cosmopolitan genus ...
polyp and medusa: Anatomy - Anatomy The two forms are similar in construction; both consist of a cylindrical body surrounding a ...
polyp and medusa: Colonial Species - Colonial Species In many species the polyp, or hydroid, stage is colonial: as new polyps are ...
purple sail - purple sail: purple sail: see jellyfish; polyp and medusa.
Portuguese man-of-war - Portuguese man-of-war: Portuguese man-of-war: see jellyfish; polyp and medusa.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Zoology: Invertebrates

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