Coelenterata

Coelenterates
Comb jellies (Beroe spp.)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Subkingdom: Eumetazoa
(unranked): Coelenterata
Phyla

Coelenterata is term encompassing animal phyla, the Cnidaria (coral animals, true jellies, sea anemones, sea pens, and their allies). Ctenophora was first considered a sub-group but Hyman regarded Ctenophora as a separate phylum. The name comes from the Greek "koilos" ("hollow bellied"), referring to the hollow body cavity common to these two phyla. They have very simple tissue organization, with only two layers of cells (external and internal), and radial symmetry. Some examples are corals and sea anemone, which are colonial, and hydra and jelly fish, which are solitary. Coelenterata lack a specialized circulatory system, relying instead on diffusion across the tissue layers.

Characteristics

All coelenterates are aquatic, mostly marine. The bodyform is radially symmetrical. The body has a single opening, the hypostome, surrounded by sensory tentacles equipped with either nematocysts or colloblasts to capture mostly planktonic prey. These tentacles surround a spacious cavity called the gastrovascular cavity or coelenteron. Digestion is both intracellular and extracellular. Respiration and excretion are accomplished by simple diffusion. A network of nerves is spread throughout the body. Many forms exhibit polymorphism, wherein different types of individuals are present in a colony for different functions. These individuals are called Zooids. These animals generally reproduce asexually by budding, though sexual reproduction does occur in some groups.

History of classification

The scientific validity of the term coelenterate is currently disputed, as the Cnidaria and Ctenophora have less in common than previously assumed.[1] In particular, the phylogenetic position of Ctenophora is controversial,[2][3] leading some researchers to suggest that Coelenterata is not monophyletic, and therefore any group containing Cnidaria and Ctenophora but excluding other phyla would be paraphyletic. However, some genomic studies have found support for monophyletic coelenterates.[4][5] Despite this uncertainty, the term coelenterate is still used in informal settings to refer to the Cnidaria and Ctenophora.

Complicating the issue is the 1997 work of Lynn Margulis (revising an earlier model by Thomas Cavalier-Smith) that placed the Cnidaria and Ctenophora alone in the branch Radiata within Eumetazoa.[6] (The latter refers to all the animals except the sponges, Trichoplax, and the still poorly understood Mesozoa.) Neither grouping is accepted universally;[7] however, both are commonly encountered in taxonomic literature.

References

  1. ↑ Excerpt from Britannica article regarding Ctenophore classification
  2. ↑ Whelan, Nathan V.; Kocot, Kevin M.; Moroz, Leonid L.; Halanych, Kenneth M. (2015-05-05). "Error, signal, and the placement of Ctenophora sister to all other animals". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112 (18): 5773–5778. doi:10.1073/pnas.1503453112. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4426464Freely accessible. PMID 25902535.
  3. ↑ Pisani, Davide; Pett, Walker; Dohrmann, Martin; Feuda, Roberto; Rota-Stabelli, Omar; Philippe, Hervé; Lartillot, Nicolas; Wörheide, Gert (2015-11-30). "Genomic data do not support comb jellies as the sister group to all other animals". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112: 201518127. doi:10.1073/pnas.1518127112. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4687580Freely accessible. PMID 26621703.
  4. ↑ Philippe, Hervé; Derelle, Romain; Lopez, Philippe; Pick, Kerstin; Borchiellini, Carole; Boury-Esnault, Nicole; Vacelet, Jean; Renard, Emmanuelle; Houliston, Evelyn (April 2009). "Phylogenomics Revives Traditional Views on Deep Animal Relationships". Current Biology. 19 (8): 706–712. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.02.052. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 19345102.
  5. ↑ Nosenko, Tetyana; Schreiber, Fabian; Adamska, Maja; Adamski, Marcin; Eitel, Michael; Hammel, Jörg; Maldonado, Manuel; Müller, Werner E. G.; Nickel, Michael (2013-04-01). "Deep metazoan phylogeny: When different genes tell different stories". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 67 (1): 223–233. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.01.010.
  6. ↑ Margulis, Lynn and Karlene V. Schwartz, 1997, Five Kingdoms: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth, W.H. Freeman & Company, ISBN 0-613-92338-3
  7. ↑ NCBI Taxonomy Browser
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