Symmetry in biology Most radially symmetric animals are symmetrical about an axis extending from the center of the oral surface, which contains the mouth to the center of the opposite, , end. Radial symmetry is especially suitable for sessile animals such as the sea anemone, floating animals such as jellyfish, and slow moving organisms such as starfish. Animals in the phyla Cnidaria and Echinodermata are radially symmetric, although many sea anemones and some corals have bilateral symmetry defined by a single structure, the siphonoglyph. Many flowers are radially symmetric or actinomorphic. Roughly identical flower parts – petals, sepals, and stamens – occur at
Nerve net of the divergence with Cnidaria and Ctenophora or they lost the function of the gene encoding Nav channels. As a result, Porifera contain Cav channels which allows for intercellular signaling, but they lack Nav channels which provide for the conductance of action potentials in nerve nets. Nerve nets are found in species in the phyla Cnidaria (e.g. scyphozoa, box jellyfish, and sea anemones), Ctenophora, and Echinodermata. Cnidaria and Ctenophora both exhibit radial symmetry and are collectively known as coelenterates. Coelenterates diverged 570 million years ago, prior to the Cambrian explosion, and they are the first two phyla to possess nervous