| Body Form |
Cylindrical or vase-shaped, typically attached to a substrate |
Umbrella-shaped, free-swimming in the water column |
| Position of mouth and tentacles |
Mouth and tentacles facing upward |
Mouth and tentacles hanging downward |
| Movement |
Limited or no movement; sedentary |
Active swimming, propelled by pulsations of the bell |
| Symbiotic associations |
Often forms colonies, as seen in coral polyps |
Typically solitary, although some species may form swarms |
| Ways of reproduction |
Asexual reproduction through budding or fragmentation |
Sexual reproduction and releases eggs and sperm into the water for external fertilization |
| Life Cycle Stage |
Typically represents the sessile or attached stage in the life cycle |
Represents the mobile and free-swimming stage in the life cycle |
| Nervous System |
Nerve net and ganglia in the basal disk |
Nerve net and ganglia spread throughout the bell and tentacles |
| Examples |
· Coral polyps
· Sea anemones |
· Jellyfish (Scyphozoa and Cubozoa) |
