Multicellular and

Tissue Levels of
Organization
Module 8
Week 7
Introduction
Animals with multicellular and tissue levels of organization
have captured the interest of scientists and layperson alike.
This module covers three animal phyla whose multicellular
organization varies from a loose association of cells to cells
organized into two distinct tissue layers. These phyla are
the Porifera, Cnidaria and Ctenophora.
Introduction
Three Animal Phyla whose multicellular organization varies
from a loose association of
cells to cells organized into 2 distinct tissue layers
1. Phylum Porifera
2. Phylum Cnidaria
3. Phylum Ctenophora
Origins of Multicellularity
● 550 million years ago, multicellular
life
● Precambrian/Cambrian boundary –
evolutionary explosion
● Diving cells remained together,
“colonial hypothesis”
● Physalia physalis - Portuguese
man-of-war, cells are grouped,
● specialized for various functions
Phylum Porifera
● “Sponges”
● Loosely-organized cells, porus, pore + fera, to bear
● ~9000 species, cm to a meter
Characteristics:
1. Asymmetrical or radially symmetrical
2. Three cell types: pinacocytes, mesenchyme cells and
choanocytes
3. Central cavity, or a series of branching chambers, through
which water circulates during filter feeding
4. No tissues or organs
Cells of Porifera
● Pinacocytes – thin, flat cells lining the outer surface of a sponge
● Porocytes – specialized pinacocytes tubelike contractile, which
regulates water circulation
● Mesohyl – jellylike layer beneath the pinacocyte layer
● Mesenchyme cells – move to mesohyl for reproduction, secreting
skeletal elements, transporting and storing food etc.
● Choanocytes – collar cells lining the inner chamber, below the
mesohyl; collar-like ring of microvilli; flagellated; water currents
are created by the flagellum; collar filter food; became gametes;
EVOLUTIONARY LINK TO THE PROTISTS (choanoflagellates)
● Spicules – microscopic needlelike spikes serving as skeleton
support; calcium carbonate, silica, spongin (fibrous protein made
of collagen)
CLASSIFICATION OF THE PORIFERA
● Phylum Porifera (po-rif'er-ah)
The animal phylum whose members are sessile and either asymmetrical or radially
symmetrical; body organized around a system of water canals and chambers; cells not
organized into tissues or organs. Approximately 9,000 species.
● Class Calcarea (kal-kar'e-ah)
Spicules composed of calcium carbonate; spicules are needle shaped or have three or four
rays; ascon, leucon, or sycon body forms; all marine. Calcareous sponges. Grantia (
Scyrha), Leucosolenia.
● Class Hexactinellida (hex-act" in-el'id-ah)
Spicules composed of silica and usually six rayed; spicules often fused into an intricate
lattice; cup or vase shaped; sycon or leucon body form; found at 450 to 900 m depths in
tropical West Indies andeastern Pacific. Glass sponges. Euplectella (Venus flower-basket).
● Class Demospongiae (de-mo-spun'je-e)
Brilliantly colored sponges with needle-shaped or four-rayed siliceous spicules or spongin
or both; leucon body form; up to1 m in height and diameter. Includes one family of
freshwater sponges, Spongillidae, and the bath sponges. Cliona, Spongilla.

*The class Sclerospongiae has been recently abandoned and its members assigned to Calcarca and
Demospongiae.
Sponge Body Forms.(a) An ascon sponge. Choanocytes line the spongocoel in ascon sponges. (b) A
sycon sponge. The body wall of sycon sponges appears folded. Choanocytes line radial Casals that open
into the spongocoel. (c) A leucon sponge. The proliferation of canals and chambers results in the loss of
the spongocoel as a distinct chamber. Multiple oscula are frequently present. Blue arrows show the
direction of water flow.
Morphology of a Simple Sponge. (a) In this example, pinacocytes form the outer body wall, and
mesenchyme cells and spicules are in the mesohyl. Porocytes that extend through the body wall form
ostia. (b) Choanocytes are cells with a flagellum surrounded by a collar of microvilli that traps
foodparticles.Food moves toward the base of the cell, where it is incorporated into a food vacuole and
passed to amoeboid mesenchyme cells, where digestion takes place. Blue arrows show water flow
patterns.The brown arrow shows the direction of movement of trapped food particles.
Phylum Cnidaria (Coelenterata)
● Possess radial or biradial symmetry
● Advantageous for sedentary animals because sensory receptors
are evenly distributed around the body.
● >9000 species, mostly marine, important in coral reef ecosystem
Characteristics:
1. Radial or biradial symmetry
2. Diploblastic, tissue-level organization
3. Gelatinous mesoglea between the epidermal and gastro-dermal
tissue layer
4. Gastrovascular cavity
5. Nervous system in the form of a nerve net
6. Specialized cells, called cnidocytes, used in defense, feeding, and
attachment
The Body Wall and Nematocysts
● Cnidarians possess diploblastic, tissue-level organization
● Ectoderm – epidermis, outer layer of the body wall
● Endoderm – gastrodermis, inner layer
● Mesoglea – jellylike layer
● ONE KIND OF CELLS called cnidocytes – produce nematocysts
for attachment, defense and feeding
● Nematocyst – fluid-filled intracellular capsule enclosing a coiled,
hollow tube
Phylum Cnidaria (Coelenterata)
Phylum Cnidaria (Coelenterata)
● “Sea walnuts” or “Comb jellies”
● 90 species, all marine
● Spherical form, although others are flattened and/or elongates
Characteristics:
1. Diploblastic, tissue-level organization
2. Biradial
3. Gelatinous mesoglea between epidermal and gastro-dermal
tissue layers
4. Gastrovascular cavity
5. Nervous system in the form of a nerve net
6. Adhesive structure called colloblasts
7. 8 rows of ciliary bands called comb rows, for locomotion

Comb rows – has 8 meridional bands of cilia between oral and aboral poles
Colloblasts – adhesive structure used to capture pre
Classification of Ctenophora
● Phylum Ctenophora (ti-nof'er-ah)
The animal phylum whose members are biradially
symmetrical, diploblastic, usually ellipsoid or spherical in
shape, possess colloblasts, and have meridionally arranged
comb rows.
● Class Tentaculata (ten-tak'u-lah-tah)
With tentacles that may or may not be associated with
sheaths, intowhich the tentacles can be
retracted.Pleurobranchia.
● Class Nuda(nu'dah)- Without tentacles; flattened; a highly
branched gastrovascular cavity.
Critical Thinking Questions.
Read the statements below. Answer briefly. (5 points each)

● 1. If most animals are derived from a single ancestral stock, and if that ancestral
stock was radially symmetrical, would the colonial hypothesis or the syncytial
hypothesis of animal origins be more attractive to you? Explain.
● 2. Colonies are defined as “loose association of independent cells”. Why are
sponges considered to have surpassed that level of organization? In your
answer, compare a sponge with a colonial protest like Volvox.
● 3. Evolution is often viewed as a continuous process of increasing diversification
of body forms and species. What evidence in early animal evolution
contradicts this viewpoints?
● 4. Most sponges and sea anemones are monoecious, yet separate individuals
usually reproduce sexually. What ensures that sea anemones do not self-
fertilize?
References
● Hickman, Cleveland P., et al. 1988. Integrated Principles of Zoology. Quezon City: Copyright by Times
Mirror/ Mos by College Publishing and Printed by JMC Press, Inc.