Capitata is a suborder of

Hydrozoa Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; ) are a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial species can be large, and in some cases the specialize ...

, a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of marine

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s belonging to the phylum

Cnidaria Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in freshwater and marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that ...

Characteristics

Members of this suborder are characterised by the

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work ma ...

s of the polyps terminating in knobs. In some species these are only present in juvenile forms being replaced in adults by more threadlike tentacles. A high nematocyst concentration is present in the knobs. A few species in this group are better known as their solitary

medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

form than as their polyp form. These include ''

Sarsia ''Sarsia'' is a genus of hydrozoan in the family Corynidae. Species * ''Sarsia angulata'' (Mayer, 1900) * ''Sarsia apicula'' (Murbach & Shearer, 1902) * ''Sarsia bella'' Brinckmann-Voss, 2000 * ''Sarsia brachygaster'' Grönberg, 1898 * ''Sarsia ...

'', '' Polyorchis'' and '' Cladonema''.

Families

According to the

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialis ...

, the following

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

are found in this suborder : * Asyncorynidae Kramp, 1949 * Cladocorynidae Allman, 1872 * Cladonematidae Gegenbaur, 1857 * Corynidae Johnston, 1836 * Halimedusidae Arai & Brinckmann-Voss, 1980 * Hydrocorynidae Rees, 1957 *

Milleporidae Fire corals (''Millepora'') are a genus of colonial marine organisms that exhibit physical characteristics similar to that of coral. The name coral is somewhat misleading, as fire corals are not true corals but are instead more closely related ...

Fleming, 1828 * Moerisiidae Poche, 1914 * Pennariidae McCrady, 1859 *

Porpitidae The chondrophores or porpitids are a small group of hydrozoans in the family Porpitidae. Though it derives from an outdated name for this lineage (see below), some still find the term "chondrophore" useful as a synonym to "porpitid" in discussion ...

Goldfuss, 1818 * Pseudosolanderiidae Bouillon & Gravier-Bonnet, 1988 * Rosalindidae Bouillon, 1985 *

Solanderiidae ''Solanderia'' is the sole genus of hydrozoans in the monotypic family Solanderiidae. They are commonly known as tree hydroids or sea fan hydroids. Description ''Solanderia'' hydroids forms large colonies. They are one of about 1000 species of ...

Marshall, 1892 * Sphaerocorynidae Prévot, 1959 * Teissieridae Bouillon, 1978 * Tricyclusidae Kramp, 1949 *

Zancleidae Zancleidae is a family of cnidarians belonging to the order Anthoathecata. Genera: * '' Ctenaria'' Haeckel, 1879 * '' Halocoryne'' Hadzi, 1917 * '' Oonautes'' Damas, 1937 * ''Zanclea'' Gegenbaur, 1856 * '' Zanclella'' Boero & Hewitt, 1992 Defi ...

Russell, 1953 * Zancleopsidae Bouillon, 1978

References

Anthoathecata {{Anthoathecata-stub