: Includes soft corals, sea pens, and sea fans. They strictly possess eight branched (pinnate) tentacles and eight mesenteries. Ecological Importance
: They use tentacles armed with specialized stinging cells called nematocysts to capture prey, ranging from plankton to small fish. actinozoa
: Includes sea anemones and stony corals. They typically have tentacles and mesenteries in multiples of six. : Includes soft corals, sea pens, and sea fans
: The body consists of a central gastrovascular cavity divided by vertical partitions called mesenteries or septa. These mesenteries increase the surface area for digestion and support the gonads. : Includes sea anemones and stony corals
The name Actinozoa stems from the Greek words aktis (ray) and zoon (animal), referring to their radial symmetry and the "ray-like" appearance of their tentacles.
: While sea anemones are typically solitary, many Actinozoans (like reef-building corals) form massive colonies of interconnected clones. Classification
: Unlike many other cnidarians (such as jellyfish), Actinozoans do not have a medusa (free-swimming) stage in their life cycle. They remain as polyps throughout their lives.