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Anthozoa
 
 
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Anthozoa is a class within the phylum Cnidaria
Cnidaria

Cnidaria Cnidarians were for a long time grouped with Ctenophores in the phylum Coelenterata, but increasing awareness of their differences caused them to be placed in separate phyla....
 that contains the sea anemone
Sea anemone

Sea anemones are a group of water dwelling, predation animals of the order Actiniaria; they are named after the anemone, a terrestrial flower....
s and coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
s. Unlike other cnidarians, anthozoans do not have a medusa
Medusa (biology)

In biology, a medusa is a form of cnidarian in which the body is shortened on its principal axis and broadened, sometimes greatly, in contrast with polyps....
 stage in their development. Instead, they release sperm
Sperm

The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive Cell . In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell....
 and eggs that form a planula
Planula

A planula is the free-swimming, flattened, cilium, symmetry #Bilateral symmetry larva of various cnidarian species. In all cases, the planula forms directly from the fertilized egg of a medusa, as the case in scyphozoans and some hydrozoans, or from a polyp, as in the case of anthozoans....
, which attaches to some substrate
Substrate (biochemistry)

In biochemistry, a substrate is a molecule upon which an enzyme acts. Enzymes catalysis chemical reactions involving the substrate. The substrate binds with the enzyme active site, and an enzyme-substrate complex is formed....
 on which the cnidarian grows. Some anthozoans can also reproduce asexually through budding
Budding

Budding is the formation of a new organism by the protrusion of part of another organism. This is very common in plants and fungi, but may be found in some animals as well, such as the Hydra ....
.

All cnidarian species can feed by catching prey with nematocyst
Cnidocyte

A cnidocyte, cnidoblast, or nematocyte is a type of venomous cell unique to the phylum Cnidaria . The cnidocyte cell provides a means for them to catch prey and defend themselves from predators....
s, sea anemones capable of catching fish and corals catching plankton
Plankton

Plankton consist of any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than their Phylogenetics or taxonomy classification....
.






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Anthozoa is a class within the phylum Cnidaria
Cnidaria

Cnidaria Cnidarians were for a long time grouped with Ctenophores in the phylum Coelenterata, but increasing awareness of their differences caused them to be placed in separate phyla....
 that contains the sea anemone
Sea anemone

Sea anemones are a group of water dwelling, predation animals of the order Actiniaria; they are named after the anemone, a terrestrial flower....
s and coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
s. Unlike other cnidarians, anthozoans do not have a medusa
Medusa (biology)

In biology, a medusa is a form of cnidarian in which the body is shortened on its principal axis and broadened, sometimes greatly, in contrast with polyps....
 stage in their development. Instead, they release sperm
Sperm

The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive Cell . In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell....
 and eggs that form a planula
Planula

A planula is the free-swimming, flattened, cilium, symmetry #Bilateral symmetry larva of various cnidarian species. In all cases, the planula forms directly from the fertilized egg of a medusa, as the case in scyphozoans and some hydrozoans, or from a polyp, as in the case of anthozoans....
, which attaches to some substrate
Substrate (biochemistry)

In biochemistry, a substrate is a molecule upon which an enzyme acts. Enzymes catalysis chemical reactions involving the substrate. The substrate binds with the enzyme active site, and an enzyme-substrate complex is formed....
 on which the cnidarian grows. Some anthozoans can also reproduce asexually through budding
Budding

Budding is the formation of a new organism by the protrusion of part of another organism. This is very common in plants and fungi, but may be found in some animals as well, such as the Hydra ....
.

All cnidarian species can feed by catching prey with nematocyst
Cnidocyte

A cnidocyte, cnidoblast, or nematocyte is a type of venomous cell unique to the phylum Cnidaria . The cnidocyte cell provides a means for them to catch prey and defend themselves from predators....
s, sea anemones capable of catching fish and corals catching plankton
Plankton

Plankton consist of any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than their Phylogenetics or taxonomy classification....
. Some of the species also harbour a type of algae
Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds....
, dinoflagellate
Dinoflagellate

The dinoflagellates are a large group of flagellate protists. Most are marine plankton, but they are common in fresh water habitats as well. Their populations are distributed depending on sea surface temperature, salinity, or depth....
s called zooxanthella
Zooxanthella

Zooxanthellae are golden-brown intracellular endosymbionts of various marine animals and protozoa, especially anthozoans such as the Scleractinia corals and the tropical sea anemone, Aiptasia....
e, in a symbiotic relationship; the reef building corals known as hermatypic corals rely on this symbiotic relationship particularly. The zooxanthellae benefit by using nitrogenous waste and carbon dioxide produced by the host, and the cnidarian gains photosynthetic capability and increased calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate

Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CalciumCarbonOxygen3. It is a common substance found as Rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of seashells, snails, and eggshells....
 production in hermatypic corals.

Anemones and certain species of coral live in isolation, however most corals form colonies of genetically identical polyps; these polyps closely resemble anemonies in structure, although are generally considerably smaller. Most kinds of stony coral
Deep water coral

Deep Water Coral, also known as cold water coral, are found worldwide. They live in deeper, darker parts of the oceans than coral. Deep Water Corals belong to the Cnidaria and are most often Scleractinia....
 live in all parts of the underwater world.

Giant Green Anemone

Phylogeny

The two subclasses are divided into a number of orders and a series of orders., extinct orders from the Paleozoic
Paleozoic

The Paleozoic or Palaeozoic Era is the earliest of three geology Era of the Phanerozoic Eon . The Paleozoic spanned from roughly , and is subdivided into six period ; from oldest to youngest they are: the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian period, Carboniferous, and Permian...
 (570-245 m.y.a.
Mya (unit)

In astronomy, geology, and paleontology, mya or "m.y.a." is an abbreviation for "million years ago". Like the related unit bya, mya is traditionally written in lower case....
) are marked with †.
  • Subclass Alcyonaria
    Alcyonaria

    Alcyonaria is a subclass of the class Anthozoa within the phylum Cnidaria. It includes the sea fans and sea pens, and the soft corals of the order Alcyonacea....
     (= Octocorallia) (8-way symmetry)
    • Alcyonacea
      Alcyonacea

      The Alcyonacea, or the soft corals are an order of corals which do not produce calcium carbonate skeletons and so are neither reef-building corals nor do they lay new foundations for future corals....
       (soft corals)
    • Gorgonacea (sea fans, sea feathers)
    • Helioporacea (= Coenothecalia) (Indo-Pacific blue coral)
    • Pennatulacea
      Sea pen

      Sea pens are colonial marine cnidarians belonging to the order Pennatulacea. There are 14 families within the order; they are thought to have a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical and temperate waters worldwide....
       (sea pens, sea pansies)
    • Stolonifera (organ-pipe coral, tree fern coral)
    • Telestacea (soft corals)
  • Subclass Hexacorallia
    Hexacorallia

    Hexacorallia is a subclass of the class Anthozoa within the phylum Cnidaria. It can be distinguished from the other anthozoan subclass by the number of tentacles each polyp possess ....
     (= Zoantharia) (6-way symmetry)
    • Ceriantharia
      Tube-dwelling anemone

      Tube anemones or Tube-dwelling anemones look very similar to sea anemones, but belong to an entirely different subclass of anthozoans. They are solitary, living buried in soft sediments....
       (tube-dwelling anemones)
    • Actiniaria
      Sea anemone

      Sea anemones are a group of water dwelling, predation animals of the order Actiniaria; they are named after the anemone, a terrestrial flower....
       (sea anemones)
    • Corallimorpharia
      Corallimorpharia

      Corallimorpharia is an order of marine cnidarians closely related to the true sea anemones . They are mostly tropical, with a narrow column topped with a wide oral disc....
    • Numidiaphyllida †
    • Scleractinia
      Scleractinia

      Scleractinia, also called Stony corals, are exclusively marine animals; they are very similar to sea anemones but generate a hard skeleton....
       (= Madreporaria) (stony corals)
    • Kilbuchophyllida †
    • Antipatharia
      Black coral

      Black coral is a term given to a group of deep water, tree-like coral related to sea anemone which normally occurs in the tropics although it is also found in shallow water non-tropical areas such as Milford Sound in New Zealand where it can be seen in an underwater observatory....
       (black corals, thorny corals)
    • Zoantharia (=Zoanthidea, =Zoanthiniaria)
    • Heterocorallia †
    • Rugosa
      Rugosa

      The Rugosa, also called the Tetracoralla, are an extinct order of coral that were abundant in Middle Ordovician to Late Permian seas....
       † (= Tetracoralla) (horned corals)
    • Heliolitida †
    • Tabulata † (tabulate corals)
    • Cothoniida †
    • Tabuloconida †
    • Ptychodactiaria