THE UNIVERSITY OF

DODOMA
SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES
BI 101 - Invertebrate Zoology

PHYLUM CNIDARIA &

CTENOPHORE
Alex Shayo, D (PhD)

CNIDARIANS
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2

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The term cnidaria derives from the

Greek word knide = nettle which
literally means to sting
Phylum Cnidaria includes
invertebrates with nematocysts (a
group of stinging cells called
Cnidoblast) such as sea anemones,
hydra, corals and jellyfish
All Cnidaria are marine except hydra,
which is a freshwater organism
This phylum was previously called
Coelenterata meaning hollow gut
but was later changed to Cnidaria
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It is in this phylum that we first see:

true plane of symmetry i.e radial
symmetry and true tissues
Cnidarians are the simplest animals
having a tissue level organization in
which similar cells become
aggregated into definite patterns or
layers

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 It is in Cnidarians that we first see true

organs and organ systems
integumentary system
digestive system
nervous system
muscular system
reproductive system
The nervous system consists of a simple
nerve net composed of naked, largely nonpolar neurons. There is no brain
The muscular system is formed by
epitheliomuscular cells derived from both
ectoderm and endoderm
Cnidarians however, have no special
structure for gas exchange (like a gill), and
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gas

Cnidarian Characteristics
The cnidarian body plan demonstrates radial
symmetry
They have a sac-like body with only one
opening called enteron
The body contains long structures called
tentacles that can be moved to capture
prey
They possess cnidocytes (cnidoblasts):
specialized cells that secrete a stinging
capsule called a nematocyst - a fluid-filled
capsule containing a long, spirally coiled
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hollow
thread

Cnidarian Characteristics
contd:
Cnidocytes are
concentrated on the
tentacles
Only cnidaria have these
cnidocytes, a specialized
cell that contains a
nematocyst, a fluid-filled
capsule containing a
long, spirally coiled
hollow thread
When the trigger of the
cnidocyte is touched, the
nematocyst is
discharged
Some threads merely
trap a prey or predator,
while others have spines
that penetrate and inject
paralyzing toxins
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Cnidarian Characteristics
contd:
Cnidarians have two
layers of cells
(diploblastic)
gastrodermis
(endoderm) and
epidermis
(ectoderm) with a
jellylike mesoglea
between them
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Body Wall
The epidermal layer contains several types
of cells organized into tissues.

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Cnidarian Characteristics
contd:
Food is taken through a mouth into the
gastrovascular cavity. The cavity is also
called a coelenteron and for many years
the name of this phylum was Coelenterata.
There is no anus
Nervous system is simple nerve net,
composed of naked and largely nonpolar
neuro
Cnidarians have no head, no central
nervous system, no gas exchange,
excretory or circulatory system
They typically have a ciliated motile larva
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called
planula

Cnidarian Characteristics
contd:
Cnidarians exhibit two body
forms (dimorphic condition)
1. The sessile polyp with
tentacles and mouth at the
top
2. The motile medusa with
tentacles and mouth on the
bottom
These forms alternate in the
life cycle
In some groups of
cnidarians both polyp and
medusa stages are found in
the life cycle, while in
others, there is no medusa;
and still in others, the polyp
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stage is reduced or absent

In life cycles in which both polyps

and medusae are found, the
juvenile polyp stage gives rise
asexually to the medusa, which
reproduces sexually
In the polyps, the mesoglea is
thin, but in medusae, it can be
thick to provide buoyancy during
swimming
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 A major evolutionary innovation for the

cnidarians, as compared with sponges is
extracellular digestion of food
Food is digested outside of cells in a
gastrovascular cavity. The inner tissue layer
(derived from endoderm) secretes digestive
juices into the gastrovascular cavity, which
digests food and circulates nutrients
In this way it becomes possible for the
animal to digest larger food pieces and thus
expand their range of food source, compared
to the intracellular digestion used by
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sponges

Extracellular Digestion
Food
digested
outside
of cells

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15

Cnidarians have internal

extracellular digestion
Digestion begins with
extracellular fragmentation in the
gastrovascular cavity
This is followed by phagocytosis
and intracellular digestion

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16

 Gut with one opening has a

disadvantage that, food and waste
use same opening and as the gut
contents digest, the gut
environment becomes more and
more fouled
As a result it must be evacuated
and undigested food is expelled
with the waste, thus wasting food
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Cnidarians have internal

extracellular digestion
Digestion begins with
extracellular fragmentation in the
gastrovascular cavity
This is followed by phagocytosis
and intracellular digestion
Cnidarians have no circulatory,
respiratory or excretory systems
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Nerve cells located below epidermis

near the mesoglea interconnect and
form a nerve net throughout the
body
The nerve net allows transmission
of messages in more than one
direction, possibly an advantage in
a radially symmetrical animal
Cnidarians have no circulatory,
respiratory or excretory systems
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Classification on the
Cnidarians
3 Major classes
Class Hydrozoa: Hydras
Class Scyphozoa:
Jellyfish
Class Anthozoa:
Anemones and corals
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Classification on the
Cnidarians
Class Hydrozoa (water animals)
The Hydrozoa include solitary or
colonial cnidarians which have a
noncellular mesoglea (no
amoebocytes in the mesoglea), lack
tentacles within the gastrovascular
cavity and have no gullet
Their gastrodermis layer has no
nematocysts
Examples: Hydra and Obelia
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Class Hydrozoa (water animals)

contd:
Although the freshwater
hydra is a much-studied
representative, it is not
typical of the class
because it never goes
through a medusoid stage
and spends its entire life
as a polyp
Hydras are usually sessile
organisms
However, some species
have developed an ability
to move by detaching
themselves and moving in
somersaulting fashion.
Others fill their basal
cavity with air and float to
a new location
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Class Hydrozoa (water animals)

contd:
Hydra live attached to vegetation by the base of the
tubular body or column, with their tentacles
suspended free in the water. At the base of the
tentacles is the mouth
Smaller animals which blunder into the tentacles are
stung and paralyzed and drawn into the mouth. Most
species of hydra are less than 0.6 inches (15 mm) in
length, not including the tentacles, and are
inconspicuous
Hydra can reproduce asexually by budding or sexually
During asexual reproduction, a part of the body wall
grows out as a hollow outgrowth, or bud that
lengthens and develops tentacles and a mouth at its
distal end
Eventually the bud constricts at the basal end and
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breaks
off from the parent

Class Hydrozoa (water animals)

contd:
Sexual reproduction is usually confined
to late summer
Most species are hermaphrodites. Sperm
swim out from the testis and enter the
ovaries of other individuals. Once
fertilized, the egg develops a protective
ornamented shell and frequently enters
a stage of arrested development or
dormancy. When favourable conditions
return, development resumes and the
young hydra develops directly without a
larval stage
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Class Hydrozoa (water animals)

contd:
Many hydrozoans are colonial
Other hydrozoans have
developed pelagic (floating)
colonies that are often
confused with jellyfish, but
unlike jellyfish they are
composed of many
individuals, all specialized for
various functions
The "Portuguese man-of war"
provides an example of these
unusual colonial hydrozoans
It is composed of various
types of polyps for feeding,
reproduction and buoyancy.
The original polyp becomes a
float. Other polyps become
specialized for feeding or
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reproduction

Portuguese manof-war

Colonial Hydrozoan
(not a single
organism
Tentacles sting prey
such as fish &
humans
Polyps in colony feed
Has gas-filled air
float
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Class Hydrozoa (water animals)

contd:
Hydrozoa are a fairly diverse group,
but they usually receive little notice,
because many species form small
branched colonies that can be
mistaken for seaweed. Such colonial
hydrozoans may be found attached
to rocks or other hard substrates

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Obelia Life Cycle

The hydroid colony arises from a free-swimming
planula larva, which settles down and attaches to a
substratum
Then, by a process of budding, a colony is formed,
which includes two kinds of polyps (also called zooids),
the nutritive polyps called hydranths and reproductive
polyps called gonangia (sing. gonangium)
Medusa buds produced in gonangia break away to
become free swimming medusae. Medusae are
dioecious (Having male and female reproductive organs in separate animals )
When each sex is mature, it discharges its gametes into
the surrounding water, where fertilization occurs
The zygote develops into a planula larva, which
attaches to a substratum, and the cycle is repeated
Thus medusae give rise sexually to asexual hydroid
colonies,
which in turn produce medusae
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Class Scyphozoa (Cup Animals)

Jellyfishes
In class, the medusa stage is
dominant
The mesoglea is thick and contains
cellular materials (there are
amoebocytes in the mesoglea)
Have a short gullet leading to the
stomach. The stomach is pouched
into four gastric pouches
They have nematocysts in the
gastrodermis
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Scyphozoans
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Aurelia Life Cycle

Aurelia is the best studied genus in the class Scyphozoa
The cycle begins when the male releases sperm through its
mouth into the surrounding water
These swim to the female where they enter her central oral
cavity to reach the eggs. Once fertilized, the zygotes develop
into planula larvae which settle on the bottom of the ocean
after several hours or days and develop into tentacle-bearing
polyps (scyphistomae)
The sessile scyphistoma, may reproduce asexually, generally
by budding or by formation of cysts (podocysts). Under
suitable environmental conditions, scyphistomae undergo
transverse segmentation and segment metamorphosis
(strobilation)
The segmented parts of the strobilating polyp (strobila)
develop into incipient medusae that eventually break loose
and become free swimming young jellyfishes (ephyrae)
The ephyra grows rapidly into an adult medusa, completing the
life cycle. Meanwhile, the basal part of the strobila reverts to a
scyphistoma. After a period of growth this scyphistoma may
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reproduce asexually, or strobilate again, or both

Aurelia Life Cycle

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Class Anthozoa
Characteristics
Sea Anemones
Brightly colored & Resemble
flowers
Solitary polyps
Feed on invertebrates & fish
Corals
Most are colonial
Build limestone case for
protection
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Live as polyps in their case

Class Anthozoa (flower

animals)

Anthozoans are exclusively marine, polypoid

cnidarians. They include the familiar sea
anemones, and other anemone-like groups with
skeletons and without skeletons as well as sea
pens, sea fans, blue coral, and black coral
Anthozoa are the most advanced members of
the phylum Cnidaria. They posses a tubular
pharynx leading into the gastrovascular cavity
which is divided into numerous radiating
compartments by longitudinal septa
Have only the polyp stage (there is no medusa
stage in their life history). There are
nematocysts on threads in the gastrovascular
cavity. They have amoebocytes in their
mesoglea
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Sea Anemones
Tentacles arranged around the central mouth.
The gastrovascular cavity is divided into radial
chambers.
Increases the surface area of the gastrodermis.

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Mutualisms

Sea anemones sometimes harbor

zooxanthellae (photosynthetic protists)
like hard corals do.
Some damselfish (anemone fishes/
clawnfish) form associations with large
anemones.
Fish gains protection from living in the
anemone.
The fish may help ventilate the anemone, or
keep it free of sediment.
The fish also protects the anemone from
anemone-eating fish.
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Phylum Ctenophora
Phylum Ctenophora are
also called

comb

jellies
All marine
Approximately
100 species
Bioluminescent
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Ctenophore

40

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 No nematocysts. The
surface of the tentacles
bears colloblasts (glue
cells) which secrete a
sticky substance that is
used for catching and
holding small animals
Tissue level of
organization, like
cnidarians.
Mostly free swimming
May be spherical, ovoid,
or elongate in
appearance.
No polymorphism or
dimorphism.
Never colonial
Bioluminescent
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Phylum Ctenophora
They use their
ciliated comb
plates for
swimming.
Not strong
swimmers.

Ctenophores
are
bioluminescent.
Statocyst
sense organ
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Comparison
Ctenophores & Cnidarians
Like the cnidarians, ctenephores are radially
symmetrical, have simple gelatinous mesenchyme,
absence of body cavity between gut and body wall
and relatively simple net-like nervous system.
But unlike the cnidarians they do not have stinging
cells. They are monomorphic (one body form)
throughout their life histories, and they are never
colonial.
Most species are pelagic, and all lack any trace of
attached stage.
Ctenophores lack a hard skeleton, excretory system
or special gas exchange system. Most are
hermaphrodite, with self fertilization; with a distinct
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larval
stage, the cydippid larva.

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