cnidarian
noun
cniĀ·darĀ·iĀ·an
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Definition of cnidarian
: any of a phylum (Cnidaria) of radially symmetrical, aquatic, invertebrate animals that have a hollow digestive cavity opening to the outside by a single opening surrounded by one or more nematocyst-studded whorls of tentacles, that occur as single or colonial sessile, typically columnar polyps or usually free-swimming, bell-shaped medusae, and that include the corals, sea anemones, jellyfishes, hydras, and Portuguese man-of-wars
Welcome to the world of cnidariansāa family of sea anemones, jellyfish and other marine invertebrates that kill their enemies and prey by firing poisonous, microscopic projectiles called nematocysts.— R. Weiss
— called also coelenterate
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Examples of cnidarian in a Sentence
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The fork leading to cnidarians represents the final turnoff before animals become bilaterally symmetric, which makes them an interesting group to study because of the greater complexity that came with that later innovation. — Quanta Magazine, "Jellyfish Genome Hints That Complexity Isnāt Genetically Complex," 8 Jan. 2019 To find out, the researchers decided to sequence the genome of Aurelia, the moon jellyfish, and then compare it to those of cnidarians without medusas. — Quanta Magazine, "Jellyfish Genome Hints That Complexity Isnāt Genetically Complex," 8 Jan. 2019 That is in contradistinction to Cambrian fossils, among which are found representatives of all the main animal groups (annelids, arthropods, brachiopods, chordates, cnidarians, echinoderms, molluscs and so on) that are around today. — The Economist, "The Cambrian explosion was caused by a lack of oxygen, not an abundance," 7 June 2018 The first saw the emergence of brachiopods and molluscs, the second that of annelids, cnidarians, echinoderms and chordates (a group that includes the vertebrates). — The Economist, "The Cambrian explosion was caused by a lack of oxygen, not an abundance," 7 June 2018 Researchers initially thought these nematocysts might be genetically similar to those of cnidarians, animals such as jellyfish and sea anemones. — Rachel Brown, National Geographic, "āGatling Gunā Plankton Reveals Violent Microbial World," 5 Apr. 2017 In fact, the planktonās ballistic mechanisms are actually much more complex than those of cnidarians. — Rachel Brown, National Geographic, "āGatling Gunā Plankton Reveals Violent Microbial World," 5 Apr. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cnidarian.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for cnidarian
cnidarian
noun
cniĀ·darĀ·iĀ·an
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