Medusozoa

Medusozoa
Temporal range: Ediacaran – present, 562 – 0 Ma
Pacific sea nettles, Chrysaora fuscescens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Subphylum: Medusozoa
Classes[1]

Medusozoa is a clade in the phylum Cnidaria, and is often considered a subphylum.[2][3] It includes the classes Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, Staurozoa and Cubozoa, and possibly the parasitic Polypodiozoa. Medusozoans are distinguished by having a medusa stage in their often complex life cycle, a medusa typically being an umbrella-shaped body with stinging tentacles around the edge.[4] With the exception of some Hydrozoa (and Polypodiozoa), all are called jellyfish in their free-swimming medusa phase.[3][5]

  1. ^ Subphyla Medusozoa based on "The Taxonomicon – Taxon: Phylum Cnidaria". Universal Taxonomic Services. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  2. ^ Marques, Antonio C.; Allen G. Collins (March 2004). "Cladistic analysis of Medusozoa and cnidarian evolution". Invertebrate Biology. 123 (1): 23–42. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7410.2004.tb00139.x.
  3. ^ a b Zapata, Felipe; Goetz, Freya E.; Smith, Stephen A.; et al. (2015). "Phylogenomic Analyses Support Traditional Relationships within Cnidaria". PLOS ONE. 10 (10): e0139068. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1039068Z. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139068. PMC 4605497. PMID 26465609.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ruppert was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Kayal, Ehsan; Bentlage, Bastian; Sabrina Pankey, M.; et al. (2018). "Phylogenomics provides a robust topology of the major cnidarian lineages and insights on the origins of key organismal traits". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 18 (1): 68. Bibcode:2018BMCEE..18...68K. doi:10.1186/s12862-018-1142-0. PMC 5932825.