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Cnidarians

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Four underwater images of cnidaria (clockwise from top right): gorgonian, sea anemone, rocky coral, and jellyfish

Modern Cnidarians

Well-known cnidarians include coral, sea anemones, and jellyfish. There are over 10,000 living species today.

In the Museum Collections

View specimen list here.

Total cnidarian specimens: 318

Total identified species: ~59

Specimens from Arkansas: 74

Identified species from Arkansas: 11

Fossil Record

The earliest cnidarian fossil specimens date back to the Precambrian (~580 million years ago).

 

Cral fossils
A coral fossil
A coral fossil

Coral (UA Museum), Marlbrook Formation (Millwood Reservoir, AR), Upper Cretaceous (100.5 – 66 million YA). Map indicates where in the state the specimens were found.

Image Credits:

  • Ducarme, Frédéric. Four examples of Cnidaria: Jellyfish (top left), gorgonian (top right), rocky coral (bottom left), and sea anemone (bottom right). Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.
  • NOAA. Anatomy of a coral polyp. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
  • Oberg, Danielle. Arkansas map.
  • Oberg, Danielle. U of A Museum paleontological specimens.