Abstract
We have investigated the fine structure of the cnidocil apparatus and the nematocyst in the hydrozoan Craspedacusta sowerbii using both light and electron microscopy. The structures are intimately connected and form a highly polarized, bilaterally symmetrical structure, the cnidocil-nematocyst complex. The cnidocil apparatus consists of a modified cilium, about 12 stereocilia, and an inner ring of short microvilli surrounding the nematocyst and cnidocil. The stereocilia enclose the cnidocil circularly in its distal region but in a crescent-like pattern in the proximal region; thus the nematocyst is not encompassed by the stereocilia, but only by the inner ring of short microvilli. We present a new reconstruction of the cnidocil apparatus and discuss the physiological significance of the various elements of the cnidocil-nematocyst complex.
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