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polyp
polyp in medicine, a benign tumor occurring in areas lined with mucous membrane such as the nose, gastrointestinal tract (especially the colon), and the uterus. Some polyps are pedunculated tumors, i.e., they grow on stems; others, attached by a broad base, are called sessile. Nasal polyps are usua...
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polyp and medusa
polyp and medusa names for the two body forms, one nonmotile and one typically free swimming, found in the aquatic invertebrate phylum Cnidaria (the coelenterates). Some animals of this group are always polyps, some are always medusae, and some exhibit both a polyp and a medusa stage in their lif...
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sea fan
sea fan colonial marine animal forming erect, flattened, branching colonies in tropical and subtropical waters. Colonies may be several feet high and are often colorful, with purples, reds, and yellows predominating. The individuals, or polyps (see polyp and medusa ), have eight feathery tentacles...
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sea pen
sea pen long, slender colonial organism of the same phylum as the jellyfish. Sea pen colonies are formed by several genera of the order Pennatulacea. The colony consists of a stalk formed by an organism called a primary polyp (see polyp and medusa ) and short branches formed by secondary polyps. T...
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coral
coral small, sedentary marine animal, related to the sea anemone but characterized by a skeleton of horny or calcareous material. The skeleton itself is also called coral. Although most corals form colonies by budding, there are some solitary corals; in both types the individual animals, called pol...
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sea anemone
sea anemone , any of the relatively large, predominantly solitary polyps (see polyp and medusa ) of the class Anthozoa, phylum Cnidaria. Unlike the closely related corals, these organisms do not have a skeleton. Sea anemones occur everywhere in the oceans, at all depths, but are particularly abunda...
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Cnidaria
Cnidaria or Coelenterata , phylum of invertebrate animals comprising the sea anemones , corals , jellyfish , and hydroids. Cnidarians are radially symmetrical (see symmetry, biological ). The mouth, located at the center of one end of the body, opens into a gastrovascular cavity, which is us...
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jellyfish
jellyfish common name for the free-swimming stage (see polyp and medusa ), of certain invertebrate animals of the phylum Cnidaria (the coelenterates). The body of a jellyfish is shaped like a bell or umbrella, with a clear, jellylike material filling most of the space between the upper and lower...
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parrotfish
parrotfish common name for a member of the large family Scaridae, colorful reef fishes of warm seas, resembling the wrasses but of a larger size. Parrotfishes, also called pollyfishes, are so named for their powerful cutting-edged beaks, formed of fused incisorlike jaw teeth. With these they scra...
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cystic fibrosis
cystic fibrosis , inherited disorder of the exocrine glands (see gland ), affecting children and young people; median survival is 25 years in females and 30 years in males. It is caused by a genetic abnormality in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene that results in the disruption...
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