Daihua

{{Short description|Extinct relative of comb jellies}}

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range = Cambrian Stage 3, {{fossil range|518|ref={{Cite journal|last1=Yang|first1=C.|last2=Li|first2=X.-H.|last3=Zhu|first3=M.|last4=Condon|first4=D. J.|last5=Chen|first5=J.|date=2018|title=Geochronological constraint on the Cambrian Chengjiang biota, South China|journal=Journal of the Geological Society|language=en|volume=175|issue=4|pages=659–666|doi=10.1144/jgs2017-103|bibcode=2018JGSoc.175..659Y |s2cid=135091168 |issn=0016-7649|url=http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521412/1/2018-JGS-Chuan%20Yang%20et%20al.pdf}}}}

| image = Daihua sanqiong YKLP-13401a.png

| image_caption = Fossil of Daihua sanqiong

| genus = Daihua

| parent_authority = Zhao et al., 2019

| species = sanqiong

| authority = Zhao et al., 2019

}}

Daihua sanqiong is a possible ancestor of comb jellies.{{Cite web |author1=Laura Geggel |date=2019-03-22 |title=520-Million-Year-Old Sea Monster Had 18 Mouth Tentacles |url=https://www.livescience.com/65049-ancient-creature-18-tentacles.html |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=livescience.com |language=en}} It was a sessile relative to comb jellies.{{Cite web |last=Bristol |first=University of |title=Half-a-billion-year-old fossil reveals the origins of comb jellies |url=https://phys.org/news/2019-03-half-a-billion-year-old-fossil-reveals-jellies.html |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=phys.org |language=en}} It had combs with cilia just like modern day comb jellies.

It is named after the Dai people. The name means Dai flower.

In 2019, Daihua and other Cambrian forms were hypothesized to be stem-group ctenophores. This leads to the assertion that ctenophores evolved from immotile, suspensivorous forms, a lifestyle similar to that of polyps.{{Cite journal |last1=Zhao |first1=Yang |last2=Vinther |first2=Jakob |last3=Parry |first3=Luke A. |last4=Wei |first4=Fan |last5=Green |first5=Emily |last6=Pisani |first6=Davide |last7=Hou |first7=Xianguang |last8=Edgecombe |first8=Gregory D. |last9=Cong |first9=Peiyun |date=2019-04-01 |title=Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=29 |issue=7 |pages=1112–1125.e2 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.036 |pmid=30905603 |s2cid=84844387 |issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free |hdl=1983/40a6bcb8-a740-482c-a23c-7d563faea5c5 |hdl-access=free }} Cladogram after Zhao et al., 2019:

{{clade|{{clade sequential|Crown Cnidaria|Xianguangia|Daihua|Dinomischus|Siphusauctum|Galeactena|Crown Ctenophora}}}}