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How do cnidarians use stinging cells to capture prey?
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Animal
The fallow deer (Dama dama) has been introduced in many areas ever since the Neolithic Period.
Cnidarians—a phylum that includes jellyfish, corals, and sea anemones—capture prey using specialized stinging cells called cnidoblasts, which produce complex capsules known as nematocysts.12
When a prey item makes contact with a cnidarian, mechanical or chemical cues trigger the nematocyst. A lidlike structure on the capsule opens, and a hollow, coiled tubule is explosively everted. These tubules function in three primary ways to secure food:13
- Penetration: Some tubules are armed with barbs that act like a drill, piercing the prey's tissues to inject paralyzing toxins.13
- Entanglement: Other tubules wrap around the prey to ensnare it.13
- Adhesion: Some tubules are sticky, serving to hold the food item in place.3
Once the prey is immobilized or captured, the cnidarian’s tentacles move the food toward the mouth, where muscular actions and, in some species, cilia assist in swallowing. Each nematocyst can be fired only once.43