Conulariida are an extinct group of medusozoan cnidarians known from fossils spanning from the latest Ediacaran up until the Late Triassic. They are almost exclusively known from their hard external structures, which were pyramidal in shape and made up of numerous lamellae.
Image: Conulariid 03
Image: Conularia gratiosa (fossil conulariids) (Salem Limestone, Middle Mississippian; Spergen Hill, Indiana, USA) 3
Close-up of a conulariid from the Mississippian of Indiana; scale in mm.
Conularia milwaukeensis from the Middle Devonian of Wisconsin.
Medusozoa is a clade in the phylum Cnidaria, and is often considered a subphylum. It includes the classes Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, Staurozoa and Cubozoa, and possibly the parasitic Polypodiozoa. Medusozoans are distinguished by having a medusa stage in their often complex life cycle, a medusa typically being an umbrella-shaped body with stinging tentacles around the edge. With the exception of some Hydrozoa, all are called jellyfish in their free-swimming medusa phase.
Medusozoa
Polypodium hydriforme, parasites of obscure affinity
Pelagia noctiluca, a scyphozoan
An unidentified cubozoan