The ctenophore (pl. ctenophores or ctenophora), also known as the comb jelly, is a phylum classically grouped with Cnidaria in the Coelenterata infrakingdom. The phylum includes the sea gooseberry (Pleurobrachia pileus) and the Venus' girdle (Cestum veneris). The word ctenophore (pronounced without the c, ) comes from Greek, kteno-, kteis, "comb" and -phore, meaning "bearer". It comes via the New Latin ctenophorus in the 19th century.

Despite their appearance, they are zoologically not true jellyfish, not least because they lack the characteristic cnidocytes. There are more than 100 varieties of ctenophore spread throughout the worlds' oceans, which form a considerable proportion of the entire plankton biomass. A few species, such as the sea gooseberry, native to the North Sea, have reached such high populations that they clog fishermen's nets, while of other species only a few examples are known. The fragile makeup of ctenophora makes research into their way of life extremely difficult; for this reason data on their lifespan is not available, but it is known that ctenophora begin to reproduce even before they reach adulthood, and so can be assumed to have a short generation cycle.

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@gehenna27 Cnidaria & Ctenophora. (:
andrewkew (Andrew Kew) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:53:57 -0000
@gehenna27 Cnidaria & Ctenophora. (:
RT @weirdimals: @qikipedia the ctenophora do have an anus, it's just that they prefer to poo through their mouth
RikaNauck (Rika Nauck) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:43:45 -0000
RT @weirdimals: @qikipedia the ctenophora do have an anus, it's just that they prefer to poo through their mouth
RT @weirdimals @qikipedia the ctenophora do have an anus,it's just that they prefer to poo thru their mouth < Did I need to know that!? :-p
Libbyextra (Libby ) Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:56:41 -0000
RT @weirdimals @qikipedia the ctenophora do have an anus,it's just that they prefer to poo thru their mouth < Did I need to know that!? :-p
RT @weirdimals: the ctenophora do have an anus, it's just that they prefer to poo through their mouth
Nicoleugenia (Nicoleugenia) Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:52:55 -0000
RT @weirdimals: the ctenophora do have an anus, it's just that they prefer to poo through their mouth
@qikipedia the ctenophora do have an anus, it's just that they prefer to poo through their mouth
weirdimals (Sir Pilkington) Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:52:08 -0000
@qikipedia the ctenophora do have an anus, it's just that they prefer to poo through their mouth
Você conhece uma ctenophora? http://migre.me/adnC
noteboxds (Sampson Moreira) Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:50:25 -0000
Você conhece uma ctenophora? http://migre.me/adnC

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