PRIMITIVE NERVOUS SYSTEM IN COLENTRATES

Presented by: Anirudh Acharya Department Of Zoology University of Mysore

CONTENTS

Introduction to Coelentrates Sensory Structures

Organization of Sensory Structures in Different Classes

References

INTRODUCTION TO COLENTRATES
Cnidarians - Primitive animals such as Hydra, Sea Anemones, Jellyfishes & Corals Ctenophores Comb Jellies

Classes of Cnidarians:Hydrozoa Hydra Cubozoa Box Jellyfishes Scyphozoa True Jellyfishes Anthozoa - Sea Anemones

INTRODUCTION TO NERVOUS SYSTEM IN CNIDARIANS

Cnidarians have simple diffused nervous system called NERVE NET. There is no central nervous system in cnidarians The neurons usually are arranged in two reticular arrays, one between the epidermis and the mesenchyme and another between the gastrodermis and the mesenchyme . The subgastrodermal net is generally less well developed than the subepidermal net, and is absent altogether in some species. Some hydrozoans possess one or two additional nerve nets. At some locations they condense to form longitudinal tracts or circular nerve rings.
Eg: Longitudinal tract Circular tract Physalia Hydrozoan Medusae

A few nerve cells and synapses - polarized (bipolar) - transmission in only one direction But most cnidarian neurons and synapses are nonpolar that is, impulses can travel in either direction along the cell or across the synapse. In general body presence of minute hair like structure Mechanoreceptors & Chemoreceptors Some appear to be associated specifically with discharged cnidae, such as the ciliary cone apparatus of anthozoan polyps. Motile medusae have more sophisticated nervous systems and sense organs than do the sessile polyps In many groups, especially the hydromedusae, the epidermal nerve net of the bell is condensed into two nerve rings near the bell margin.

Axons end on other nerve cells at synapses or neural junctions with sensory cells or effector organs.

One way transmission between neurons in higher animals occurs because of the relative activity of the protein channels for sodium and potassium in the axons that generate the electrical signals (action potentials). In addition, synaptic vesicles are only found in the nerve cell terminal (synaptic button). Cnidarian nerve nets are comprised of cells that have synaptic vesicles on both sides.
In cnidarians, there can be both one-way and two-way synapses with other neurons.

Cnidarian neurons lack the myelin sheaths which we will see in other animals. Thismyelin is a fatty acid membrane (in fact, a cell membrane) that will increase the speed of action potentials in larger, more complex animals.

SENSORY STRUCTURES

Ocelli - patches of pigment and photoreceptor cell organized as a disc or a pit. Statocysts may be in the form of pits or closed vesicles, the latter housing a calcareous statolith adjacent to regime by directed swimming behaviors.

RHOPALIA

Rhopalium are the sensory structures of scyphozoan jellyfish. They include specialized structures for sensing light (eyespots) and movement or direction with respect to gravity (statoliths). The 'eyes' are most complex in the Cubozoa.

A RHOPALIUM (SECTION) HAS VARIOUS SENSORY REGIONS.

A RHOPALIUM OF AURELIA (DIAGRAMMATIC).

A PORTION OF THE GASTROVASCULAR CANAL HAS BEEN CUT
AWAY

A PIGMENTCUP OCELLUS (CROSS SECTION) OF A HYDROZOAN MEDUSA.

A CUBOZOAN RHOPALIUM.

Most complex well developed Rhopalium. Cubomedusae possess as many as 24 well-developed eyes located near the bell margin. One pit is located on the exumbrellar side of the hood of the rhopalium, the other on the subumbrellar side.

THE EYE OF A CUBOZOAN (CARYBDEA) (CROSS SECTION).

They have a true epidermal cornea, a spherical cellular lens, and a retina. Retina- multilayered, containing a sensory layer, a pigmented layer, a nuclear layer, and a region of nerve fibers.

There are, roughly 11,000 sensory cells in each of these remarkable eyes.

Cytoplasmic conducting SystemSimilar in nature to that of sponges. Epidermal cells and muscle elements appear to be the principal components of the system. Impulse conduction, which travels very slowly and in a highly diffuse fashion.

REFERENCES:

Invertebrates by Brusca 2003 The nervous systems of invertebrates: an evolutionary and comparative approach By Wolfram Kutsch

Review Cnidarians and the evolutionary origin of the nervous system -2005 by Hiroshi Watanabe, Toshitaka Fujisawa and Thomas W. Holstein

THANK YOU