The ornately colored sea anemone (uh-NEM-uh-nee) is named after the equally flashy terrestrial anemone flower. A close relative of coral and jellyfish, anemones are stinging polyps that spend most ...

A study of a simple marine animal suggests that the common ancestor of cnidarians and bilaterians may have had three germ layers instead of two. Nematostella embryos’ two cell layers arise during ...

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56115-2 Cnidarians, which include jellyfish, corals and sea anemones, are the closest living relatives of animals with bilateral symmetry, such as humans and insects.