The name polyp was given to these organisms from their supposed resemblance to an octopus (Fr.
They include shad, rock cod, mackerel, mullet, bream and soles; sharks, stingrays, cuttlefish and the octopus are also common in the waters off the coast of Natal.
It cannot be too emphatically stated that a coral-polyp is as far removed in organization from either an octopus or an insect as it is from man himself.