Name.

Imad Ullah
Department.
Zoology 3rd. Semester

SBBU WARI CAMPUS

SUBMITTED TO.
SIR M.YOUNAS SALAR

PHYLUM CNIDARIA
Cnidarians are diploblastic, have organized tissue, undergo extracellular digestion,
and use cnidocytes for protection and to capture prey.

Introduction to Phylum Cnidaria

Phylum Cnidaria includes animals that show radial or biradial symmetry and are
diploblastic: they develop from two embryonic layers. Nearly all (about 99
percent) cnidarians are marine species.

Cnidarians contain specialized cells known as cnidocytes (“stinging cells”), which

contain organelles called nematocysts (stingers). These cells are present around the
mouth and tentacles, serving to immobilize prey with toxins contained within the
cells. Nematocysts contain coiled threads that may bear barbs. The outer wall of
the cell has hairlike projections called cnidocils, which are sensitive to touch.
When touched, the cells are known to fire coiled threads that can either penetrate
the flesh of the prey or predators of cnidarians, or ensnare it. These coiled threads
release toxins into the target that can often immobilize prey or scare away
predators ().

Animals in this phylum display two distinct morphological body plans: polyp or
“stalk” and medusa or “bell”. An example of the polyp form is Hydra spp.;
perhaps the most well-known medusoid animals are the jellies (jellyfish). Polyp
forms are sessile as adults, with a single opening to the digestive system (the
mouth) facing up with tentacles surrounding it. Medusa forms are motile, with the
mouth and tentacles hanging down from an umbrella-shaped bell.

Some cnidarians are polymorphic, having two body plans during their life cycle.
An example is the colonial hydroid called an Obelia. The sessile polyp form has, in
fact, two types of polyps. The first is the gastrozooid, which is adapted for
capturing prey and feeding; the other type of polyp is the gonozooid, adapted for
the asexual budding of medusa. When the reproductive buds mature, they break off
and become free-swimming medusa, which are either male or female (dioecious).
The male medusa makes sperm, whereas the female medusa makes eggs. After
fertilization, the zygote develops into a blastula and then into a planula larva. The
larva is free swimming for a while, but eventually attaches and a new colonial
reproductive polyp is formed.
All cnidarians show the presence of two membrane layers in the body that are
derived from the endoderm and ectoderm of the embryo. The outer layer (from
ectoderm) is called the epidermis and lines the outside of the animal, whereas the
inner layer (from endoderm) is called the gastrodermis and lines the digestive
cavity. Between these two membrane layers is a non-living, jelly-like mesoglea
connective layer. In terms of cellular complexity, cnidarians show the presence of
differentiated cell types in each tissue layer: nerve cells, contractile epithelial cells,
enzyme-secreting cells, and nutrient-absorbing cells, as well as the presence of
intercellular connections. However, the development of organs or organ systems is
not advanced in this phylum.

The nervous system is primitive, with nerve cells scattered across the body. This
nerve net may show the presence of groups of cells in the form of nerve plexi
(singular: plexus) or nerve cords. The nerve cells show mixed characteristics of
motor as well as sensory neurons. The predominant signaling molecules in these
primitive nervous systems are chemical peptides, which perform both excitatory
and inhibitory functions. Despite the simplicity of the nervous system, it
coordinates the movement of tentacles, the drawing of captured prey to the mouth,
the digestion of food, and the expulsion of waste.

The cnidarians perform extracellular digestion in which the food is taken into the
gastrovascular cavity, enzymes are secreted into the cavity, and the cells lining the
cavity absorb nutrients. The gastrovascular cavity has only one opening that serves
as both a mouth and an anus; this is termed an incomplete digestive system.
Cnidarian cells exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide by diffusion between cells in
the epidermis with water in the environment, and between cells in the gastrodermis
with water in the gastrovascular cavity. The lack of a circulatory system to move
dissolved gases limits the thickness of the body wall, necessitating a non-living
mesoglea between the layers. There is no excretory system or organs; nitrogenous
wastes simply diffuse from the cells into the water outside the animal or in the
gastrovascular cavity. There is also no circulatory system, so nutrients must move
from the cells that absorb them in the lining of the gastrovascular cavity through
the mesoglea to other cells.
The phylum Cnidaria contains about 10,000 described species divided into four
classes: Anthozoa, Scyphozoa, Cubozoa, and Hydrozoa. The anthozoans, the sea
anemones and corals, are all sessile species, whereas the scyphozoans (jellyfish)
and cubozoans (box jellies) are swimming forms. The hydrozoans contain sessile
forms and swimming colonial forms like the Portuguese Man O’ War.

Characteristics

Body Symmetry

The majority of Cnidarians share the characteristic of radial symmetry. Radial

symmetry means symmetry around a center point such that any line drawn through
the center of the organism divides the body into mirror images. A jellyfish, for
example, viewed from above has radial symmetry. Many Cnidarians also exhibit a
second axis of bilateral symmetry, and some Cnidarians only exhibit bilateral
symmetry. Bilateral symmetry means a single plane drawn through the middle of
the organism will show mirror images across the plane. More complex, "higher"
order organisms all share the characteristic of bilateral symmetry. The class
Cnidarian contains members with radial symmetry and members with bilateral
symmetry as well as members that exhibit both symmetries. Cnidarians therefore
may provide clues and insights into the development of more complex body
structures.

Body Structure

All Cnidarians share particular trait: tentacles with stinging nematocysts. The
nematocysts act like tiny harpoons, reacting to stimuli by hurling out small stinging
cells that both poison and hook potential prey. The thread attaching the stinging
cell to the Cnidarian then retracts, drawing the victim back to the main body of the
Cnidarian to be eaten or stung to death. Like other invertebrates, Cnidarians lack
bones and a central nervous system. Instead they have a nerve net. Cnidarians have
only two body layers, the endoderm, and the ectoderm. Between the two body
layers lies the jelly-like mesoglea. The mesoglea acts as little more than a glue in
some Cnidarians while making up most of the animal, as in the case of the
jellyfish, in other Cnidarians. Cnidarians all have a main body cavity with only one
opening, the mouth, which is surrounded by tentacles. In the sessile, or non-
mobile, forms, the mouth points up. In the mobile medusa form the mouth points
down. The muscles of the body wall help a medusa swim, and the tentacles of
anemones and coral move using hydrostatic action.

Reproductive Cycle

Cnidarians have complex reproductive cycles. Many cnidarians have an asexual

stage, usually in the form of asessile polyp which asexually produces other polyps
and medusae. The free-swimming medusae reproduce sexually. The medusa
releases eggs and sperm into the water where they combine to form zygotes. The
zygote develops into a larva that settles on a substrate and becomes a polyp. The
polyp produces more polyps and medusae and the cycle begins again. But there are
some types of Cnidarians, like sea anemones and corals, that lack the medusa
stage. They simply release eggs and sperm into the water. The reproductive cycle
of true jellyfish also varies with environmental conditions. Cnidarians also can
regenerate when broken apart when attacked by predators or divided by accident.

Capturing Food

The carnivorous Cnidarians use their stinging tentacles to capture prey. Because
sessile Cnidarians like corals and sea anemones don’t move and in general jellyfish
have limited power to move independently through the water, their prey, like small
fish or crustaceans, comes to these Cnidarians through misadventure. The box
jellyfish swim relatively quickly so they seem more capable of hunting their prey.
Some sessile Cnidarians seem to be able to absorb dissolved organic material
directly from the water but research continues into this possibility.

CLASSES OF CNIDARIANS
Class Anthozoa

Members of the class Anthozoa display only polyp morphology and have
cnidocyte-covered tentacles around their mouth opening.

The class Anthozoa includes all cnidarians that exhibit a polyp body plan only; in
other words, there is no medusa stage within their life cycle. Examples include sea
anemones, sea pens, and corals, with an estimated number of 6,100 described
species. Sea anemones are usually brightly colored and can attain a size of 1.8 to
10 cm in diameter. These animals are usually cylindrical in shape and are attached
to a substrate.

Class Scyphozoa

Scyphozoans are free-swimming, polymorphic, dioecious, and carnivorous

cnidarians with a prominent medusa morphology.
Class Scyphozoa, an exclusively marine class of animals with about 200 known
species, includes all the jellies. The defining characteristic of this class is that the
medusa is the prominent stage in the life cycle, although there is a polyp stage
present. Members of this species range from 2 to 40 cm in length, but the largest
scyphozoan species, Cyanea capillata, can reach a size of 2 m across. Scyphozoans
display a characteristic bell-like morphology.

Class Cubozoa

Class Cubozoa includes jellies that have a box-shaped medusa: a bell that is square
in cross-section; hence, they are colloquially known as “box jellyfish.” These
species may achieve sizes of 15–25 cm. Cubozoans display overall morphological
and anatomical characteristics that are similar to those of the scyphozoans. A
prominent difference between the two classes is the arrangement of tentacles. This
is the most venomous group of all the cnidarians.
Class Hydrozoa

Hydrozoa includes nearly 3,200 species; most are marine, although some
freshwater species are known. Animals in this class are polymorphs: most exhibit
both polypoid and medusoid forms in their lifecycle, although this is variable.

Cnidarians represent a more complex level of organization than Porifera. They

possess outer and inner tissue layers that sandwich a noncellular mesoglea between
them. Cnidarians possess a well-formed digestive system and carry out
extracellular digestion in a digestive cavity that extends through much of the
animal. The mouth is surrounded by tentacles that contain large numbers of
cnidocytes—specialized cells bearing nematocysts used for stinging and capturing
prey as well as discouraging predators. Cnidarians have separate sexes and many
have a lifecycle that involves two distinct morphological forms—medusoid and
polypoid—at various stages in their life cycles. In species with both forms, the
medusa is the sexual, gamete-producing stage and the polyp is the asexual stage.
Cnidarian species include individual or colonial polypoid forms, floating colonies,
or large individual medusa forms