Ctenophores have smooth muscle fibres in mesoglea whereas cnidarians lack it.
A few more salient differences are listed below:
→ Cnidarians are highly diversified in terms of the number of species compared to ctenophores.
→ The body size range is higher among ctenophores than in cnidarians.
→ The majority of cnidarians live in the ocean while a very little number of species could be found in freshwater, whereas all the ctenophores have been recorded only from the saltwater environments.
→ Cnidarians are radially symmetrical while ctenophores are either radial or biradial in their body symmetry.
→ The alteration of generations is present among cnidarians but not in ctenophores.
→ Cnidarians have Cnidocytes to disable the prey while ctenophores have colloblasts to capture prey.
→ Bioluminescence is more common among ctenophores than in cnidarians.
→ Digestive tract is complete in ctenophores but not in cnidarians.
→ Ctenophores have a comb plate but never in cnidarians.
