LAB

2 ANIMAL DIVERSITY I: THE SIMPLE BEASTSPHYLA PORIFERA, AND CNIDARIA.

INTRODUCTION
By now you're already familiar with
many members of the major phyla though your
lecture and work with the previous exercises in
this manual. Hopefully, you've grown to
appreciate the animals with which we've worked
and have found the diversity in their habits,
ecology, physiology and evolution darn close to
interesting. For the remainder of this semester
(term /quarter) you'll be introduced to each of
the major phyla and a few of their classes.
EXERCISE
Porifera.

30.1 The Sponges: Phylum

MATERIALS NEEDED:
Preserved specimens: bath sponge, Grantia
(Sycon) and/or Leucosolenia.
Dried
sponges:
class
Demospongae
(Euspongia
sp),
class
Hexactinellida
(Euplectella
sp),
class
Calcarea
(Leucosolenia).
Sponges are the simplest of the
multicellular animals. They have no organ
systems and are characterized by numerous
canals and chambers that open to the outside by
way of pores which giving this phylum its name.
Many sponges are asymmetrical, but some
exhibit radial symmetry. They are almost plantlike in their simplicity and are often confused as
being plants.
The body plan of a typical sponge is
shown in figure 2.1. Water (carrying suspended
plankton and other potential food) enters
numerous small pores called ostia (singular,
ostium). The ostia are surrounded by donut-

shaped cells called porocytes that open and

close to control water flow. For the sponge
depicted in figure 2.1, water flows directly into
an open chamber called the spongocoel (the
term "coel" refers to an open space or body
cavity in an animal). Water leaves the
spongocoel by a larger opening (the osculum).
The interior of the spongocoel is lined with
flagellated cells called choanocytes (or collar
cells; Fig 2.1). The choanocytes have a tubular
collar facing the spongocoel. A flagellum
extends from the center of this collar, the
movement of which creates currents that force
water through the sponge's "plumbing system".
Suspended food particles (plankton, larvae, etc)
in the water are drawn through the collar from
below, trapped on the outside of the collar, and
then phagocytized.
The collar cells do not digest the
captured food by themselves; instead it is passed
to a second cell (an amoebocyte) waiting in the
mesohyl (the acellular portion of the sponge).
Amoebocytes carry the food to other cells that
require nutrition and thus partly compensate for
the sponge's lack of a circulatory system.
Amoebocytes carry on other jobs. They can, for
example, undergo developmental changes to
turn into any other cell type that may be
required. This allows for growth, repair, and
reproduction of the sponge. In addition, they are
responsible for producing the sponge's skeleton
(a network of fibers flexible protein (spongin)
and needle-like spicules). Spicules are usually
made of calcium carbonate or oxides of silicon
and the shape of the spicules is important in
classification.

Osculum

Choanocyte

Sea Water
(Outside)

Spicules
Ostea

Spicules

Collar
Spongocoel
(Inside)

Porocyte
Ostium

Ostium

Amoebocyte

Holdfast

Epithelial
Cell

Flagella
Mesoglea

Figure 2.1. General body plan of a simple sponge. (A) part of a colony, (B) longitudinal section including
details of choanocytes and an amoebocyte. The inside of the sponge (spongocoel) is to the left in B.
Most sponges are marine and reproduce
through
both
asexual
(budding
and
fragmentation) and sexual reproduction. Sexual
reproduction is timed to environmental cues
such as water temperature, tides, and the phase
of the moon. During the mating season sperm
are released into the water and eventually enter
the porocytes of the female sponge. The sperm
are later taken up by choanocytes, and then
passed on to amoebocytes which carry them to
egg cells located in the mesohyl. Sponges may
be either dioecious or monoecious; depending
on the species.
PROCEDURE:
1. Class Demospongae- General Structure. This
is the largest of the sponge classes. Examine the
dried and pickled bath demonstration sponges.
Note the bath sponge, which lacks calcareous or
siliceous spicules and is therefore soft to the
touch. Most of the large pores on the outer
surface of this sponge are oscula (the excurrent
canals). The tiny pin holes on the surface
represent, for the most part, the ostia (incurrent
canals).
2. Class Hexactinellida (Hyalospongiae). These
sponges have their skeletons formed from
silicon oxides which gives them a glassy
appearance (their common name is "glass
sponges"). Nearly all are deep-water forms,

living at depths between 200 and 1000 m. If

available, Venus'-flower-basket (Euplectella) is
an interesting specimen. If you look inside two
shrimp will be found (one is male, the other
female). Numerous larval shrimp entered the
sponge through the sieve plate at the top. The
first pair to reach sexual maturity killed off other
immature shrimp that had entered with them. In
Japan Venus'-flower-baskets are given as
wedding presents to symbolize lifelong devotion
and fidelity (this tradition ignores, of course, the
carnage as they reached maturity and the fact
that the shrimp are trapped and can't escape).
3. Class Calcarea (Calcispongiae). Examine the
remaining sponges, paying particular attention to
the Leucosolenia specimens. Remove the
Leucosolenia from their vial, transfer to a dish,
and cover with water. Examine your specimen
under a dissecting microscope. Locate the
oscula, ostia, and spicules (Fig 2.1). Draw a few
representative individuals of your colony and
label the appropriate structures. Remove the
sponges from the dish and return them to their
vial (do not pour water in the storage vial).

Tentacles with Cnidocytes

Stoma

Epidermis

Gastrovascular Cavity
Pedal Foot

Gastroderm

EXERCISE 2.2 The Jelly Animals: Phylum

Cnidaria (Coelenterata).
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Living Material: Hydra (removed from
access to food for a day or two), brine shrimp
(Artemia washed in fresh water) or water fleas
(Daphnia).
Prepared
Slides:
Class
Hydrozoa:
longitudinal sections of Hydra, whole mounts
of Hydra showing budding, ovaries, and
testes, whole mounts of Obelia.
Compound and dissecting microscopes, slides
and cover glasses, finger bowls, watch glasses,
eye droppers, forceps , dissecting needles.
Cnidarians are the simplest organisms
that have attained a tissue level of organization.
They consist of little more than an outer covering
(the epidermis) and an inner gastrodermis with a
non-cellular mesoglea sandwiched between the
two (Fig 2.2). Mucus-secreting cells cover the
animal with a protective slime. A single opening
serves as the entrance to the gastrovascular
cavity, within which prey is digested. Lacking an
anus, any undigested material is ejected through
the mouth. With most of the living cells in direct
contact with the water, specialized excretory,
circulatory, and respiratory are not needed.

Nonetheless, the nervous and sensory systems are

reasonably well-developed and many cnidarians
are capable of quite complex behavior. All
members of this phylum possess stinging
structures called nematocysts housed in
specialized cells (cnidocytes). Cnidocytes are
especially concentrated on the tentacles, but are
also found scattered over the epidermis and
gastrodermis. In some species the poison
contained in the barbs of the nematocysts is
powerful enough to harm humans (most notably,
those of the Portuguese man-of-war, Physalia).
Most, however, don't penetrate the skin or if they
do they cause only slight irritation.
Two body forms are characteristic of
this phylum (sometimes within the same species).
The polyp is cylindrical with tentacles at one end
(Hydra is built on this plan; Fig 30.2). Polyps are
often sessile (non-motile and attached to the
substratum), but some are capable of locomotion.
The medusa body plan (Fig 30.3) is the form
commonly called a "jellyfish". The mesoglea is
considerably thicker than that of the polyps and
imparts the jelly-like consistency to the animal.
Medusae swim by undulations of their bell. The
orientation of most species is mouth-side (oral
surface) down (with the aboral surface up). Some
cnidarians exist only in the polypoid or the
medusoid form, while others alternate between the

Figure 2.2. Longitudinal section of Hydra. Both prey and waste move through the stoma. Note that the

entire gastrovascular cavity extends through each tentacle.

A
C
B
H
G

D
F
E

A) FEEDING POLYP

E) GONOTHECA

B) DEVELOPING POLYP

F) COENOSARC

C) MEDUSA

G) PERISARC

D) REPRODUCTIVE POLYP

H) HYDROTHECA

Figure 2.3. The colonial hydrozoan Obelia. Both polypoid and medusoid forms are shown.
two body plans. Both polypoid and medusoid
forms are radially symmetrical.
Those species that alternate between the
two body plans are said to have alternation of
generations. Polyps usually reproduce through
asexual means (budding and fragmentation)
while medusae reproduce sexually. Fertilization
is external and both dioecious and monoecios
forms are found (depending on the species). The
life cycles of a cnidarian is depicted in fig 2.3.

PROCEDURE:
1. Class Hydrozoa- General Structure. Obtain a
slide depicting a longitudinal section of Hydra.
Focus under scanning and low power and
identify the structures shown in figure 2.2. Draw
and label your specimen in the results section.
2. Obtain a slide labeled "Obelia" and identify the
feeding and reproductive polyps (Fig 30.3). Note
the medusa buds on the "stem" of the
reproductive polyps. When fully developed the

young medusae break free of the stalk and exit at

the top of the gonotheca (the various thecae are
the transparent coverings surrounding the
polypoid members of the colony). Search the
slide until you find Obelia medusae. Look at
these under higher power.
3. Examination of living Hydra. Use an eye
dropper to transfer Hydra from the culture vial
to a clean watch glass or shallow dish. Add
enough water from the culture vial (not tap
water) to cover your specimen. View under a
dissecting microscope. While you are waiting
for your specimen to attach to the glass continue
with the next section of the laboratory. Check on
your Hydra periodically (turn the lamp off when
you are not viewing your specimen so that it
won't overheat). After the Hydra has attached to
the glass, use a pin or clean dissecting needle to
lightly touch one of the tentacles. Describe the
animal's response in the results section.

4. Feeding responses in Hydra. Transfer several

Daphnia or Artemia (washed in fresh water) to
the dish with your Hydra. Record your
observations on the capture and ingestion of the
prey organism by the Hydra in the results
section. Let your neighbors view Hydra if it
feeds since many of the animals will not
cooperate. If you remove the prey from the
Hydra's tentacles before it is swallowed, the
prey can be examined under high power to
demonstrate the nematocysts penetrating the
cuticle. Make a wet mount, add a cover slip and
use high power to view the nematocysts.
5 Adult Hydrozoan jellyfish can be mist easily
recognized by the presence of a self-like vellum
at the base of the bell. Examine a hydrozoan
jellyfish Goneonemus (figure 2.4) and identify
the indicated structures.

Figure 2.3 External structure of an adult hydrozoan, Goneonemmus.

Class Scyphozoa- General Structure.

Remove a preserved specimen of Aurelia from its storage bottle and transfer to a shallow dish.
Cover with enough water to float and expand the jellyfish. Identify the structures indicated in
figure 2.5 (note the absence of a vellum and the four oral lobes of the manubrium). The
RHOPALIA (at the margin of the bell) are multi-purpose sensory organs (they detect light,
provide a sense of gravity, and taste chemicals dissolved in the water). Note the gonads associated
with the gastric pouches. Compare the structure of Aurelia to other members of the class if on
display.
Life cycle of Aurelia. Obtain a slide (or series of slides) showing the life cycle of Aurelia. Make a
sketch of each phase in the results section. Locate a PLANULA LARVAE (Fig 2.5; formed
sexually by the fusion of eggs and sperm from mature jellyfish). The planula is a flattened ciliated
larva. They are free-swimming for a short period and then settle on the substratum where they
METAMORPHOSE into a polypoid larva called a SCYPHOSTOMA. Scyphostoma feed very
much as do Hydra and reproduce through asexual budding. They eventually undergo multiple
transverse fissions through a process called STROBILIZATION. The resulting STROBILA
sheds immature jellyfish (EPHYRA) at the oral (tentacular) end. Ephyra eventually mature into
adult jellyfish. Like most scyphozoans, Aurelia are dioecious.

Figure 2.5. Alternation of Generations and General External Structure of the scyphozoan, Aurelia.
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Class Anthozoa- General Structure.
Obtain a preserved sea anemonae (Metridium, or similar) and examine its external structure (Fig
2.6; the tentacles of some species may be smaller and more numerous than those depicted in the
figure). If so instructed, open the sea anemonae with shears and expose the internal organs (Fig
2.6). CIRCULAR MUSCLES squeeze against water in the interior cavity (which serves as a

HYDROSTATIC SKELETON) resulting in a lengthening (and thinning) of the column.

RETRACTOR MUSCLES (on a longitudinal axis) make the column short and fat when
contracted. MESENTERAL PERFORATIONS equalize the flow of water within the animal
(water flow would otherwise be restricted by the MESENTERY extending from the outer wall to
the PHARYNX. ACONTIAL and MESENTERAL filaments produce digestive enzymes and aid
in the absorption of nutrients.
Examine other members of this class on display (additional anemonae, and stony or soft corals).
The hard corals are most likely represented by only their cleaned and dried skeletal remains. Note
the partitions in the cavities that were once occupied by living polyps. If available, compare the
structure of these cavities to that of a hydrozoan coral (such as fire coral). What differences can
be seen?
Feeding in a Sea Anemonae. Examine a living sea anemonae if a salt water tank is on display.
Identify the tentacles, oral opening leading to the pharynx and basal disk (Fig 2.6). Your
instructor may demonstrate feeding by placing a small piece of fresh liver or clam directly on a
tentacle. What similarities do you see between feeding by an anemonae and Hydra?

Figure 2.6 Longitudinal section through the anthozoan, Metridium

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REPORT SECTION _________________________ __________________

Lab 2

(Name)

(Date/ Lab Section)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------EXERCISE 2.1- The Sponges: Phylum Porifera. Draw several representative Leucosolenia and label
the appropriate structures. Then make a sketch showing the structure of a sponge in longitudinal section.
Label your diagram and indicate the flow of water through the system.
Representative Leucosolenia. Microscopic Structure of a Sponge.
Magnification _____

Exercise2.2TheJellyAnimals:PhylumBrieflydescribethebehaviorof
Cnidaria(Coelenterata).yourHydratoalighttouch.
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LongitudinalsectionofHydra.
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Magnification_______
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FeedingresponsesinHydra.BrieflydescribepreycapturebyHydra._________
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Ifthepreywereexaminedforthe
presenceofnematocysts,provide
adrawingofyourobservations:

Nematocystsembeddedinprey
Magnification_______

Other Assigned Drawings. Make sketches as required. Label both the sketch and the magnification for
all your drawings.
Id: ____________________
Magnification ___________

Id: ____________________
Magnification ___________

Id: ________________
Magnification ________

Id: ____________________
Magnification ___________

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Id: ________________
Magnification ________