Ctenophora

Ctenophora (; from Ancient Greek κτείς (kteis) 'comb' and φέρω (pherō) 'to carry') or ctenophores (), commonly known as comb jellies, is a basal phylum of marine invertebrate animals notable for their unique aquatic locomotion using groups of cilia (commonly referred to as "combs"). They inhabit marine habitats worldwide, with 186 recognised living species. Ctenophores are the largest animals to swim with cilia, with adult ctenophores range from a few millimeters to 1.5 m (5 ft) in size depending on the species. Their bodies consist of a mass of jelly (mesoglea) with a two-cell-thick layer on the outside, and another lining the internal cavity. The phylum has a wide range of body forms, including the egg-shaped cydippids with a pair of retractable tentacles that capture prey; the flat, generally combless platyctenids; and the large-mouthed beroids, which prey on other ctenophores. Almost all ctenophores are predators, feeding on prey ranging from microscopic larvae and rotifers to the adults of small crustaceans; the exceptions are juveniles of two species, which live as parasites on the salps on which adults of their species feed. Despite their soft, gelatinous bodies, fossils thought to represent ctenophores appear in Lagerstätten (well-preserved fossil beds) dating as far back as the early Cambrian, about 525 million years ago. The position of the ctenophores in the "tree of life" has long been debated in molecular phylogenetics studies. Biologists proposed that ctenophores constitute the second-earliest branching animal lineage, with sponges being the sister-group to all other multicellular animals (Porifera sister hypothesis). Other biologists contend that ctenophores diverged earlier than sponges (Ctenophora sister hypothesis), which themselves appeared before the split between cnidarians and bilaterians. Pisani et al. reanalyzed the data and suggested that the computer algorithms used for analysis were misled by the presence of specific ctenophore genes that were markedly...