[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Diagram showing the change of the Actinula (A) into a Polyp (B); _a-b_, principal (vertical) axis; _c-d_, horizontal axis. The endoderm is shaded, the ectoderm is left clear.] It is convenient to distinguish two types of polyp by the names hydro polyp and anthopolyp, characteristic of the Hydrozoa and Anthozoa respectively. In the hydropolyp the body is typically elongated, the height of the column being far greater than the diameter. The peristome is relatively small and the mouth is generally raised on a projecting spout or _hypostome_. The ectoderm loses entirely the ciliation which it had in the planula and actinula stages and commonly secretes on its external surface a protective or supporting investment, the perisarc. Contrasting with this, the anthopolyp is generally of squat form, the diameter often exceeding the height; the peristome is wide, a hypostome is lacking, and the ectoderm, or so much of it as is exposed, i.e. not covered by secretion of skeletal or other investment, retains its ciliation throughout life. The internal structural differences are even more characteristic. In the hydropolyp the blastopore of the embryo forms the adult mouth situated at the extremity of the hypostome, and the ectoderm and endoderm meet at this point. In the anthopolyp the blastopore is carried inwards by an in-pushing of the body-wall of the region of the peristome, so that the adult mouth is an opening leading into a short ectodermal oesophagus or stomodaeum, at the bottom of which is the blastopore. Further, in the hydropolyp the digestive cavity either remains simple and undivided and circular in transverse section, or may show ridges projecting internally, which in this case are formed of endoderm alone, without any participation of the mesogloea. In the anthopolyp, on the other hand, the digestive cavity is always subdivided by so-called mesenteries, in-growths of the endoderm containing vertical lamellae of mesogloea (see ANTHOZOA). In short, the hydropolyp is characterized by a more simple type of organization than the anthopolyp, and is in most respects less modified from the actinula type of structure.