Lab 2 Assignment: Cnidaria and Porifera

BIOL 2P92 -09

Romil Patel (5844196)
TA: Fiona
Tuesday, January 24, 2017

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 Laboratory 2 Report
Porifera and Cnidaria

Assignment 1: Body Symmetry

Categorize each of the specimens on display according to its body symmetry.
A. Pentaradial B. Asymmetrical
C. Bilateral D. Radial
Radial symmetry is most common among sedentary organisms or organisms that drift passively
with the water currents. Speculate about the adaptive value of radial symmetry for these
organisms.
The radial symmetry that one tends to observe involves simpler organisms, such as
Cnidarians. These organisms tend to not move very much, and just extend their tentacles.
They do not even hunt for their food by moving, they simply just wait and food comes into
contact with their tentacles. For these organisms, having radial symmetry works very well
as they have tentacles around their mouth, do not move much, and wait for their food to
come close to them. These cnidarians did not evolve bilateral symmetry, simply due to
their sedentary nature. Moreover, organisms that are bilaterally symmetrical either
require more movement, or have further development Microbiome is a mix of species of
the head 2 important factors that the cnidarians in question do not have. Therefore, it
makes sense that cnidarians havent adapted overtime to bilateral symmetry.
Assignment 2: Locate and label each of the following cell types on the diagram below:
pinacocytes, porocytes, choanocytes, archaeocytes and spicules.

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 For each of the sponge cells listed below, define its function.
Archaeocyte: change into several specialized cells (scelrocytes, spongocytes, collenocytes), build the
skeleton, distributing food, as well as mediating the chemical/physiological responses that allow
the sponge to react to its environment.
Pinacocyte: to maintain the size and structure of the sponge, by expanding and contracting. And by
secreting a material that affixes the sponge firmly to the substrate
Choanocyte: creates water currents to move food and water through the sponge
Porocyte: specialized Pinacocytes that are able to regulate water intake by redistributing their
cytoplasm

Assignment 3: Gemmules
What are gemmules? Why are gemmules more commonly produced by freshwater sponges than
by marine water sponges? Which cell type forms gemmules?
Gemmules are dormant structures in many sponges that are essentially a ball of
amoebocytes covered with spicules and collagen. The purpose of these gemmules includes
being able to reproduce asexually and allowing the organism to survive in harsh
conditions. Furthermore, these gemmules are more commonly produced by freshwater
sponges than marine water sponges because they are exposed to much more adverse
environmental conditions. So by producing more of these gemmules, they are able to
survive in a dormant state until the environmental conditions become favourable.
Moreover, gemmules are made up of cells called amoebocytes, what are mobile cells in the
body of invertebrates such as sponges; they move via pseudopodia.

Assignment 4: Taxonomic Classification

Classify each specimen on display to class and list the type of water canal system found in each
class.
Specimen A Class Calcarea Asconoid, Leuconoid, and Syconoid Canal Systems
Specimen B Class Hexactinellida Syconoid Canal System
Specimen C Class Demospongiae Leuconoid Canal System

Assignment 5: Class Identification

Observations: Fizzing occurred right after the addition of HCl
Class: Calcarea
Rationale: It made sense that the class was Calcarea because, under 40x magnification, when
bleach was added, one could clearly see the presence of triaxon spicules. Furthermore, once HCl
was added to it, it began fizzing/bubbling. The presence of these bubbles and/or fizzing meant that
this reacted with the Calcium Carbonate (CaCO 3) to form Carbon Dioxide (CO 2). The
distinguishing factor was that, CaCO3 can only be found in the Calcarea class as only members
of this class would have spicules made up of CaCO3.

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Assignment 6: Water Canal System
Remember to attach your image of the water canal system slide. Identify the type of canal
system and the magnification used.

Magnification Used: 40x

Type of Canal System: Leuconoid

Identify the type of water canal system in each model and identify the labelled structures.

Model A: Syconoid Model B: Asconoid

Structure Function
A Spongocoel The central cavity in the body of a sponge, through which water flows.
It can be very complex or simple, depending on the water canal
system of that sponge.
B Osculum An excretory structure in the sponge, which acts as an opening to the
outside, through which water current exits the sponge.
C Choanocyte To create water currents to move food and water through the sponge
D Ostium Tiny pores along body of the sponge, that allows water and specific
nutrients flow into the interior area of the sponge.

Which of the three body forms/water canal systems is most successful? What is the selective
advantage of this body type?
The Leuconoid body form/water canal system is the most successful. The selective
advantage associated with this body type is that it is the most complex and efficient
filtration system. Instead of a small tube, or small finger-like projections, this body type has
various compartments, which further exemplifies how efficient it can really be.
Furthermore, instead of the radial chambers associated with the Syconoid and Asconoid, it
has flagellated chambers, thus allowing for water that enters the body to be filtered well by
the choanocytes before the sponge expels it through the osculum.

A sponge body has neither a mouth nor a digestive tract, so how do these animals feed?

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 Sponges feed by isolating microscopic food particles from the water that enters the sponge.
As the water enters the sponge body cavity, the aforementioned microscopic food particles
get trapped/stuck to the choanocytes. Through a process known as endocytosis, these
trapped particles are then engulfed by the choanocytes, after which it can be digested.

True or False? Sponges have the ability to reproduce sexually and asexually. Explain.
True! Sponges can reproduce sexually by playing either role, the male or the female, as
sponges identify as both of the sexes. A sponge, acting as the male sponge, simply releases
sperm into the water, which then travels and enters another sponge which now acts as the
female. This results in fertilization, the production of a larvae, and then grows into an adult
sponge. Furthermore, Sponges are also able to reproduce asexually, through a process
called budding. In this process, a small piece of a sponge breaks off, and overtime ends up
growing into a full adult-sized sponge. This essentially means that even if a really small
part of a sponge breaks off, it will be able to survive and grow. Therefore, it does make
sense to say that Sponges have the ability to reproduce sexually and asexually.
According to current theory, which group of protozoans is most closely related to animals and
may have given rise to early sponges? What similarities does this group of protozoans share
with modern sponges?
Based on the current theory, choanoflagellates are the group of protozoans that are the
most closely related to animals, and the choanoflagellates the lived in late Precambrian seas
gave rise to the early sponges. These choanoflagellates are similar to the modern sponges
with respect to nutrition, their cellular organization, their reproduction methods, gas
exchange, and the way in which they respond to environmental stimuli. Furthermore, these
protozoans can grow resistant spores to resist extreme environmental conditions, just like
sponges are able to grow gemmules that keep the sponge in a dormant state to be
unaffected by any extreme environmental conditions either.

Assignment 7
List the two morphological forms found in the phylum Cnidaria
The two morphological forms found in the phylum Cnidaria are polyps, cylindrical in
shape, and medusa circular convex/umbrella in shape.
What is the advantage to having dimorphic life forms?
The advantage to having dimorphic life forms is that instead of just being motile all the
time, as the medusa is, or being sessile all the time, as the polyp is, it can be both. However,
over time, the cnidarian has evolved to usually choosing only 1 life form and sticking to it
for the majority of its lifetime. There are several exceptions, as one would expect, that can
change from 1 lifeform to another in order to be more efficient in all aspects of its life.
Describe how food absorption in the hydrozoans differs from food absorption observed in the
sponges.
Cnidarians have proper/true tissues, which enable them to digest food in their
gastrovascular cavity. However, sponges do not have tissues, and thus do not have that
capability. This gastrovascular cavity is able to digest food efficiently as it has several
enzymes that aid in the quick digestion of food particles. On the contrary, the sponge
essentially just uses its choanocytes to trap any food particles that pass via the water
flowing by.

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This slide is a cross section of Hydra littoralis

Label each of the following structures on the diagram below: Epidermis, Mesoglea,
Gastrodermis, Gastrovascular cavity.

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Assignment 8
What structure would you use to distinguish between the medusa of class hydrozoa and class
scyphozoa?
The structure I would use to distinguish between the medusa of class hydrozoan and class
scyphozoa is the presence of a velum; a shelf-like tissue extension of the body wall around
the inner margin of the bell. It collaborates with the circular muscle to help the cnidarian
in swimming.

Identify structure A
Gastrozooid
What is the function of this structure?
Assignment 9 The primary function of the
Gastrozooid is for taking up nutrition.
It does this by catching the prey via the
A tentacles and nemocysts, and then
promptly digesting it.
Identify structure B
Gonozooid
What is the function of this structure?
The primary function of this structure
is for reproduction. It does this by
producing medusa called gonophores
B which are reproductive organs that
produce gametes.

Assignment 10
Identify some of the different types of polyps observed on the Portuguese man-of-war?
Some of the different types of the polyps that were observed on the Portuguese man-of-war
are; gastroozoids (feeding polyps), gonozooids (reproductive polyps) dactylozooids
(defensive polyps), and pneumatophore.
Assignment 11
Briefly describe the mechanism of nematocyst discharge.
This process of nematocyst discharge with a mechanical or a chemical stimulus
triggering/affecting cnidocytes, as the signal is initially received by the cnidocil. This
instantly causes the operculum to open up as a result of water rushing in from outside with
an extremely higher osmotic pressure into the cell (which is a considerably lower osmotic
pressure). This then ends up resulting in a sharp increase in hydrostatics pressure, further
causing the nematocysts to discharge thus releasing certain filaments/spikes into
prey/victims. This filament is extremely poisonous, which greatly weakens the organisms

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foe. These nematocysts tend to be replenished by the organism every 48 hours, on average,
as it is used when catching its prey.