Cnidaria (Gr knide, nettle + L.

aria; like or connected with With more than 9,000 species Cnidocytes = which contain stinging organelles (cnidae) Cnidae come in several types including the common nematocysts Nematocysts are used only by cnidarians

Phylum Coelenterata Gr. koilos, hollow, + enteron, gut + L. ata, characterized by

BODY PLANS:

Have two body forms MEDUSA & POLYPS Have Radial Symmetry

Known for Cnidocytes contain stinging cells such as nematocyst

REPRODUCTION: Reproduce Sexually & Asexually

Free-swimming larva - planula

CNIDARIAN CLASSES:

o Anthozoa sea anemones and corals (polyps; no medusa stage) o Hydrozoa fire corals, Portuguese man-of-war, hydras o Scyphozoa jellyfish medusa form is dominant but may begin as polyp o Cubozoa box jellyfish & sea wasp

Entirely aquatic (mostly marine) With oral and aboral ends Radial symmetry or biradial symmetry around a longitudinal axis

Radial symmetry = body parts are arranged

concentrically around an oral-aboral axis Biradial symmetry = is basically a type of radial symmetry in which only two plane through the oral-aboral axis divide the animal into mirror images

No definite head

Exoskeleton or endoskeleton chitinous, calcareous, or protein components in some Body with 3 layers: epidermis and gastrodermis , mesoglea (acellular) Gastrovascular cavity or coelenteron(often branched or divided with septa) = with a single opening that serves as mouth and anus

Extensive tentacles usually encircling the mouth or oral region Special stinging-cell organelles called cnidae, in particular nematocyst, in either epidermis or gastrodermis or in both Monoecious and dioecious

Secretion of complex intracellular organelles called cnidae (nematocysts) Planula larvae in the life cycle

Two basic forms: Polyps

Or hydroid form

Adapted to a

sedentary or sessile life

Medusae
Or jellyfish form

Adapted for a

floating or freeswimming existence

Polyps
Have tubular bodies Mouth surrounded by tentacles (defines the

oral end) Mouth leads into a blind gut or gastrovascular cavity Aboral end is usually attached to asubstratum by a pedal disc or other device

Reproduce asexually by:

Budding Fission Pedal laceration

Zooids buds that remains attached to the polyp: gastrozooids (for feeding) dactylozooids (for defense) gonozooids (for making sexually reproducing stages)

Usually free-swimming Have bell-shaped or umbrella-shaped bodies Tetramerous symmetry (body parts arranged in fours) Mouth is usually centered on the concave side Tentacles extend from the rim of the umbrella

Jellylike layer of mesoglia is thicker consisting the bulk of the animal and making it more buoyant medusae are commonly called jellyfishes

Algae frequently live as mutuals in tissues of cnidarians, notably in some freshwater hydras and reef-building corals. The presence of algae in reef-building corals limits the occurrence of coral reefs to relatively shallow, clear water where sunlight is sufficient for photosynthetic requirements of the algae

Hydras as food for mollusc and flatworms Live as commensals on shells and other surface of host (sea anemones and certain hydroids) Economic value of reef

Reef provide substantial amounts of food for

human (fish and other animals associated with reefs

Includes: branching, plantlike hydroids Flowerlike sea anemones Architects of the ocean floor- gorgonian corals (sea whips, sea fans, etc) Stony corals whose thousand of years of calcareous housebuilding great reefs and coral islands.

The basis of classification is the adult forms whether polyp or medusa.

Class Hydrozoa
Hydra Obelia Goneonemus

Class Scyphozoa
Jellyfishes

Class Anthozoa
Sea anemone Stony corals

Class Cubozoa

Fresh water members of this class live singly, but the marine forms live singly or form polymorphic colony. Though only polyp or medusa is found but sometimes both polyp or medusa may be found in the same animal. Gastrovascular cavity is directly connected with mouth.

Alternation of generation is found in the life cycle. Ciliated planula larva is found. No stomodeum, velum present in medusa. Radial canals in medusa are not branched. Gametes develop from ectoderm.

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu

Kingdom Animalia Phylum Cnidaria Class Hydrozoa Order Hydroida Suborder Hydrida Family Hydridae Genus Hydra Species: Hydra vulgaris

Kingdom Animalia (animals) Eumetazoa (metazoans) Phylum Cnidaria (cnidarians) Class Hydrozoa (hydralike animals, hydroids, and hydrozoans) Order Hydroida (medusae) Suborder Hydrida Family Hydridae Genus Hydra Species Hydra utahensis

Class Hydrozoa
Order Hydroida Suborder Anthomedusae

Freshwater species Hydranths lack a chitinous covering With no medusa stage Length up to 25-30 mm

ZOOIDS
Mostly HYDRANTHS (Gastrozooids feeding polyp

STALK

BASE (basal disc or pedal)

http://www.geochembio.com/biology/organisms/hydra/

Class Hydrozoa
Order Hydroida Suborder Leptomedusae

Colonial or solitary
Colonial marine hydroid that forms a minute plantlike growth on rocks, pilings, and other substrates Hydranths with chitinous covering

Dioecious
Gametes are fertilized in the water and the

zygote develops into a planula larva which settles into substrate and metamorphose into colony

Kingdom: Animalia Subkingdom: Eumetazoa Phylum: Cnidaria Subphylum: Medusozoa Class: Hydrozoa Subclass: Leptolinae Order: Leptomedusae Suborder: Proboscidoidea Family: Campanulariidae Genus: Obelia Peron and Lesueur, 1810 Species: Obelia dichotoma Obelia geniculata Obelia longissima Obelia bidentata

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelia

The medusa of Gonionemus. hydrozoa

http://webs.lander.edu/rsfox/invertebrates/gonionemus.html

Anthozoans include corals, sea anemones, sea pens, and sea pansies. These animals are either solitary or colonial polyps that live attached to a substrate (surface).

Of the 6,000 known anthozoan species, corals comprise about 2,500 species.

Sea anemones and corals have polyps and no medusae Corals are colonial and secrete calcium carbonate skeletons. Coral reefs are the accumulation of these skeletons.

The Class Anthozoa is further divided into three subclasses: Octocorallia, Zoantharia, and Tabulata (extinct colonial corals).
Subclass Octocorallia. Polyps are characterized by having eightpinnate (side- branching) tentacles. Octocorallians include gorgonian corals, sea pens, sea pansies, organ- pipe corals, and soft corals (order Alcyonacea). Most are colonial. Subclass Zoantharia. Polyps are characterized by having tentacles in multiples of six. Zoantharian tentacles are rarely pinnate. Black corals and reef-building corals (order Scleractinia) are members of this subclass. Reef-building corals are also known as "hard corals" or "stony corals". Zoantharians may be either solitary or colonial.

Class Anthozoa Subclass Zoantharia (Hexacorallia) Order Actiniaria Genus Metridium

Classification: Kingdom Animalia (animals) Phylum Coelenterata (corals, jellyfish, sea anemones hydroids) Class Anthozoa meaning "flower-like animals" (corals and sea anemones) Order Actiniaria.

Diadumene dia

The sea anemone is considered to be the flower of the sea. Sea anemones look like plants, but they are really meat-eating animals.

Sea anemones come in different sizes and many different colors.The sea anemone can attach itself to rocks or coral. In the center of the sea anemone is their mouth. In order for the sea anemone to eat, they must wait for their food to swim by. Then they sting it with their tentacles, and then push it into their mouth.
Sea anemones spend most of their lives in one place. They can attach themselves to rocks. Some even bury themselves in the mud.

Class Anthozoa Subclass Zoantharia (Hexacorallia) Order Scleractinia Genus Meandrina (Brain coral) Genus Astrangia (Eyed coral) Genus Fungia (Mushroom coral) Genus Acropora (Staghorn, elkhorn, Antler coral) Genus Porites (reef coral) Genus Oculina

This Class contains the larger jellyfishes, with some reaching two metres across the bell and with tentacles 30 metres long.
They are mainly marine and free floating, though they can "swim" by pulsations of the bell. In this Class the polyp stage is either reduced or absent. There are around 215 species.

Class Scyphozoa
Order Semaeostomeae
http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/AnimalDiversi ty/Lab4%20Porifera%20and%20Cnidaria.htm

Aurelia(Desor, 1848) Sea nettle

http://www.discoverlife.org/nh/tx/Cnidaria/Jellyfish/

Aurelia sp. is a typical example

Aurelia rhopallium, a multifunction sensory organ
http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/AnimalDiversi ty/Lab4%20Porifera%20and%20Cnidaria.htm

The lappets come in pairs, and between them is a sense organ called a rhopalium containing a statocysts to give the animal information on its equilibrium and orientation, sensory pits, and, in some species, ocelli (simple eyes).

The oral arms capture prey.

The tentacles are armed with nematocysts (see illustration on the right), as is the entire body surface.
http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/AnimalDiversi ty/Lab4%20Porifera%20and%20Cnidaria.htm

Aurelia sp. has relatively short tentacles, and feeds on plankton. The plankton is passed to the mouth by cilia.

Aurelia, planula larva stage.

Aurelia, scyphisoma stage (polyp)
http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/AnimalDiversity/Lab4%20Porifera%20and%20Cnidaria.htm

Aurelia, early strobila stage

http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/AnimalDiversity/Lab4%20Porifera%20and%20Cnidaria.htm

Aurelia, late strobila stage

Aurelia, ephyra stage (young medusa

http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/AnimalDiversity/Lab4%20Porifera%20and%20Cnidaria.htm

Pacific Sea Nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens), Montery BayAquarium Dec 2009, Photo by Mark Leavitt

Sea Nettle scientific classification: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Cnidaria Class: Scyphozoa Order: Semaeostomeae Family: Pelagiidae Genus: Chrysaora Species: Chrysaora fuscescens

The cubozoan body is shaped like a square bell, with the mouth suspended inside it on a tube (the manubrium) that leads upward to the stomach, which is inside the top part of the bell. Extending around the inside bottom of the bell is a ring of tissue called the velarium, and at the bottom corners of the bell are muscular fleshy pads (pedalia), with one or more tentacles connected to each pedalium. Four sensory structures called rhopalia are located near the center of each of the four sides of the bell. Box jellyfish have eyes that are surprisingly complex, including regions with lenses, corneas, and retinas; however, box jellyfish do not have a brain, so how the images are interpreted remains unknown. Like all cnidarians, box jellyfish possess stinging cells that can fire a barb and transfer venom (Waggoner and Collins 2000).

Cubozoans are agile and active swimmers, unlike the more planktonic jellyfish. They have been commonly observed to swim a meter in just five to ten seconds, and there are unconfirmed reports of large specimens of Chironex fleckeri swimming as fast as two meters in one second (Waggoner and Collins 2000). The high speeds are achieved through a kind of squirting action in which the medusa contracts while the velarium at the bottom contracts even more, producing a constricted opening through which the water is forcefully expelled.
Box jellies can be found in many tropical areas, including near Australia, the Philippines, Hawaii, and Vietnam.

Kingdom:Animalia Phylum:Cnidaria Class:Cubozoa Werner, 1975Order:Cubome dusae Haeckel 1877