Invertebrate: Phylum Cnidaria- Class Scyphozoa- (EXAM 2) Flashcards
Class Scyphozoa
Under Phylum Cnidaria
Ex) jellies
2-40cm in diameter, tentacles 2-60/70m in length
Gen info (Scyphozoa)
most float in the water column (some up to a depth of 3000 m)
mostly found in marine water but can also be found in freshwater
Gen info 2 (Scyphozoa)
body is 95% water
have a soft body (Hydrostatic skeleton), which is an adaptation for floating and withstanding pressure associated with depth
Hydrostatic Skeleton (Scyphozoa)
pressure of internal body fluid against the body wall provides rigidity. this is an adaptation for floating and withstanding pressure associated with depth
Movement (Scyphozoa)
jellyfish move through the water by radially expanding and contracting their bell-shaped bodies to push water behind them. They pause between the contraction and expansion to create two vortex rings
Vortex Rings
-two are formed when jellyfish pauses between contraction and expansion during movement
Vortex Rings (Explained)
- muscles are used for the contraction of the body which sheds the first vortex and pushes the animal forward
- the second vortex rings rolls under it and beings to spin faster, which sucks in water which refills the bell and is pushed up against the center of the body, giving it secondary and “free” boost forward. Mechanism is called passive energy recapture
Passive Energy Recapture (vortex rings)
only works at low speeds and relatively small body sizes, allowing the animal to travel 30% farther on each swimming cycle
Blooms
what many species congregate in (large swarms)
- consist of hundred of individuals, bloom formation is a complex process that depends on ocean currents (global,oscillations) nutrients, temperature and ambient oxygen concentrations (climate change).
- Jellyfish sometimes mass breed during blooms
Aequorin
photoprotein isolated from luminescent jelly, used in molecular biology to measure intracellular CA2+ also to make ice cream glow
