A modified view on octocorals: Heteroxenia fuscescens nematocysts are diverse, featuring both an ancestral and a novel type

Cnidarians are characterized by the presence of stinging cells containing nematocysts, a sophisticated injection system targeted mainly at prey-capture and defense. In the anthozoan subclass Octocorallia nematocytes have been considered to exist only in low numbers, to be small, and all of the ances...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2012-02, Vol.7 (2), p.e31902-e31902
Main Authors: Yoffe, Chen, Lotan, Tamar, Benayhau, Yehuda
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Anthozoa
Biology
Biomechanics
Classification
Cnidaria
Coral reefs
Earth Sciences
Evolution
Heteroxenia fuscescens
Hexacorallia
Ischemia
Life sciences
Marine ecology
Microscopy
Molecular biology
Nematocyst
Nematocysts
Neurosciences
Octocorallia
Pennatulacea
Phylogenetics
Prey
Proteins
Spines
Studies
Zoology
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Summary:Cnidarians are characterized by the presence of stinging cells containing nematocysts, a sophisticated injection system targeted mainly at prey-capture and defense. In the anthozoan subclass Octocorallia nematocytes have been considered to exist only in low numbers, to be small, and all of the ancestral atrichous-isorhiza type. This study, in contrast, revealed numerous nematocytes in the octocoral Heteroxenia fuscescens. The study demonstrates the applicability of cresyl-violet dye for differential staining and stimulating discharge of the nematocysts. In addition to the atrichous isorhiza-type of nematocysts, a novel type of macrobasic-mastigophore nematocysts was found, featuring a shaft, uniquely comprised of three loops and densely packed arrow-like spines. In contrast to the view that octocorals possess a single type of nematocyst, Heteroxenia fuscescens features two distinct types, indicating for the first time the diversification and complexity of nematocysts for Octocorallia.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0031902