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Anthozoas

      Anthozoa is a class within the phylum Cnidaria that contains the sea anemones and corals. Unlike other cnidarians, anthozoans do not have a medusa stage in their development. Instead, they release sperm and eggs that form a planula, which attaches to some substrate on which the cnidarian grows. Some anthozoans can also reproduce asexually through budding. Like those of other cnidarians, the individual polyps have a cylindrical body crowned by a ring of tentacles surrounding the mouth. The mouth leads into a tubular pharynx which descends for some distance into the body before opening into the gastrovascular cavity that fills the interior of the body and tentacles. Unlike other cnidarians, however, the cavity is subdivided by a number of radiating partitions, or mesenteries. The gonads are also located within the cavity walls. All cnidarian species can feed by catching prey with nematocysts; sea anemones are capable of catching fish and corals of catching plankton. Some of the species also harbour a type of algae, dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae, 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 or , and the cnidarian gains photosynthetic capability and increased calcium carbonate 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 live in all parts of the underwater world.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthozoa

A sketch of the anthozoan polype
Source: http://www.taxateca.com/claseanthozoa.html
Heliocoenia humberti Etallon, 1859 HF2509
Heliocoenia humberti Etallon, 1859 HF817
Heliocoenia humberti Etallon, 1859 HF2904
Heliocoenia humberti Etallon, 1859 HF1038
Heliocoenia humberti Etallon, 1859 HF797
Heliocoenia humberti Etallon, 1859 HF2896
Heliocoenia humberti Etallon, 1859 HF2821
Heliocoenia humberti Etallon, 1859 HF2895
Heliocoenia humberti Etallon, 1859 HF2905
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF872
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF873
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF3174
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF905
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF1923
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF887
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF786
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF1113
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF2815
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF2816
Heliocoenia orbignyi Roniewicz, 1966 HF832

Virtual museum of the Czech Geological Survey, www.geology.cz, (C) Czech Geological Survey, 2011, v.0.99 [13.12.2011]