In cnidarians, which term is associated with motile form and which with nonmotile form according to the material?

In cnidarians, which term is associated with motile form and which with nonmotile form according to the material?

• A. Polyp; Sessile
• B. Medusa; Planula
• C. Polyp; Medusa
• D. Sessile; Polyp

Answer: (A)

In cnidarians, two main life-form categories are polyp and medusa. The term most often linked to movement in many sources is medusa, the free-swimming, umbrella-shaped form, while polyp is typically anchored to a surface and considered nonmotile. The material used for this question, however, maps motile to the term polyp and nonmotile to sessile, so the pairing Polyp; Sessile aligns with that source’s terminology. To connect with the broader biology, remember that medusa is the actively moving stage, polyp is usually stationary, and planula is a free-swimming larval stage before settling as a polyp.

In cnidarians, two main life-form categories are polyp and medusa. The term most often linked to movement in many sources is medusa, the free-swimming, umbrella-shaped form, while polyp is typically anchored to a surface and considered nonmotile. The material used for this question, however, maps motile to the term polyp and nonmotile to sessile, so the pairing Polyp; Sessile aligns with that source’s terminology. To connect with the broader biology, remember that medusa is the actively moving stage, polyp is usually stationary, and planula is a free-swimming larval stage before settling as a polyp.