Cnidaria

Study of Cnidarians can help to understand animal evolution, as they diverged very early in evolution from the more familiar "Bilaterians" such as vertebrates and insects.

There is a wide diversity of cnidarian species, as shown on this cnidarian phylogenetic tree.

C. hemisphaerica is a hydrozoan, and member of the order Leptomedusae. Other cnidarians currently used in laboratories around the world include two anthozoans (the sea anemone Nematostella and the coral Acropora), and three other hydrozoans: Hydra, Hydractinia and Podocoryne.

Some External Web sites for more information:

	Cnidaria home page (University of California, Irvine - Rob Steele )

	Hydrozoa directory (Geneva Natural History Museum - Peter Schuchert)

	Cnidarian Genomics	Compagen (University of Kiel) Hydra genome (Metazome) Nematostella genome (JGI) Stellabase (J. Finnerty, Nematostella tools) Transgenic hydra facility (University of Kiel)

	Bibliography - a small selection of references, focussing on patterning of the early embryo

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