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23.3 Sponges and Cnidarians

Key Concept  Sponges and cnidarians are the simplest animals.

Sponges have specialized cells but no tissues.

Because of their body plan, sponges may be the most primitive animals
on Earth. Sponge fossils more than 570 million years old have been
found in Australia. This makes them one of the oldest groups of animals VOCABULARY
that scientists have found so far. Sessile comes from a Latin
Sponge characteristics  Sponges have no muscle or nerve cells. They are word meaning “to sit.”
The opposite of sessile is
sessile, meaning they cannot move. Sponges attach to hard surfaces. mobile. Mobile comes
They give off toxic substances to keep other sponges from growing near from a Latin word mean-
them and to protect them from predators. ing “to move.”

Sponge reproduction  Sponges can reproduce both sexually and asexu-

ally. Some species release eggs and sperm into the water, where fertiliza-
tion occurs. Other species release only sperm, and the egg is fertilized
inside the female sponge. Like Hydras, sponges can also make copies of
themselves by budding.
Sponge anatomy  Sponges do not have mouths. They are
filter feeders, which means they eat by straining food particles
from the water. Water is pulled in through tiny pores in their body
wall. Used water is pushed out through a larger hole, called the
osculum. The water flows through the sponge’s body in a network
of tubelike channels.
Sponges come in many colors and shapes. They may look like
tubes or lie flat on the ocean floor. All sponges are made of two Sponges are among the
layers of cells over a frame of hard fibers, called spongin. Sponges do simplest animals alive.
not have tissues, but do have a few kinds of specialized cells.
• Pinacocytes are thin and like leather. They form the outer layer.
• Choanocytes, or “collar cells,” form the inner layer. Each cell
has a flagellum, which it moves to pull in water that contains
food particles.
• Amoebocytes are mobile cells between the cell layers. They absorb
and digest food and circulate nutrients, oxygen, and waste materials.
How does a sponge’s body plan show that it is a very primitive
animal?

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 Cnidarians are the oldest living animals that have
specialized tissues.
Unlike sponges, cnidarians can move using simple nerves and muscles.
Cnidarian characteristics  Cnidarians have two body forms. The polyp
is a tube with the mouth and tentacles facing upward. The other form is
the umbrella-shaped medusa with the mouth and tentacles facing
downward. Both forms have radial symmetry.
Cnidarian reproduction  Polyps reproduce asexually by
budding. Medusas release sperm and eggs into the water for
sexual reproduction.
Cnidarian anatomy  Cnidarians have two tissue layers with a
jellylike material called mesoglea between them. The outer
layer has three kinds of cells.
• Contracting cells cover the cnidarian and contain muscle
fibers.
• Nerve cells form a network over the entire animal. They
send sensory information and help muscles work together.
• Cnidocytes contain stinging structures for defense and to
capture prey. Most of these cells are on the tentacles.
A nematocyst is a stinging structure found in sea anemones
and jellyfish. It is a capsule containing a thin, coiled tube with a Cnidarians, like this medusa jellyfish,
poisonous point at one end. Prey captured by a nematocyst is are able to move and capture prey.
pushed through the animal’s mouth and into a saclike digestive
space called the gastrovascular cavity.
Cnidarian classes  There are four major groups of cnidarians.
• Anthozoa include sea anemones and corals. Most of these animals
have a polyp form, and there is no medusa stage.
• Hydrozoa include fire corals. They alternate between polyp and
medusa forms.
• Scyphozoa are jellyfish. Most of these animals have a medusa form,
with a short polyp stage or none at all.
• Cubozoa include tropical box jellyfish. Most have a medusa form.
They have a boxlike body and well-developed eyes.
Name three types of cells in a cnidarian’s outer tissue layer and
describe what they do.

384 McDougal Littell Biology

 23.3 Vocabulary Check Mark It Up
Go back and highlight
sessile mesoglea
each sentence that
filter feeder nematocyst has a vocabulary
polyp gastrovascular cavity word in bold.
medusa

1. Underline the word that means “straining food particles from water.”
2. Circle the words that describe cnidarian body forms.
3. Draw a box around the word that means attached to one place.
4. Draw a wavy line under the word that describes a place for digestion
in some cnidarians.
5. Highlight a word that means a stinging structure.

23.3 The Big Picture

6. What sponge characteristics help explain why they are sessile?

7. Explain how sponges accomplish filter feeding.

8. What characteristics of cnidarians allow them to catch their own

food?

9. How do the polyp and medusa forms reproduce?

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