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Hydrozoas are cnidarians that can vary greatly in form. They can exist as a light coloured fluff on stones or algae, build beautiful feather formed colonies on the bottom, small medusae or as large floating colonies. The picture above depicts such a colony, the portuguese man-o-war (Physalia physalis) which has been washed up onto a Florida beach. |
The hydrozoa colonies can have individuals that have specialized
tasks like catching food, defending the colony or reproduction.
With one group of floating hydrozoas, the polyps can build
large gas filled bladders or swimming individuals at the top of the colony
and long threads with feeding polyps underneath. This type of hydrozoa
is called asiphonophore.
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