PHYLUM CTENOPHORA

Ctenophorans are a small group (50 species) of uncertain affiliations. Their English name of comb jellies derives from the ciliated bands or ‘combs’ which propel them along. They may be cylindrical or spherical like the common sea-gooseberry of British Seas. The genus Cestum is so long and flat that its English name is Venus’s girdle. Ctenophorans are planktonic carnivores fishing for prey with expanded sticky tentacles.