Journal
ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
Volume 178, Issue 2, Pages 206-225Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12415
Keywords
chitin; exoskeleton; glycosaminoglycan; Hydroidolina; Medusozoa; perisarc; phylogenetics; Pseudohydrotheca
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Funding
- Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior/Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico - Instituto Euvaldo Lodi - IEL National - Brazil [6101100-2011]
- Programa Nacional de Cooperacao Academica, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) [490348/2006-8, 304720/2009-7, 562143/2010-6, 563106/2010-7, 477156/2011-8, 305805/2013-4, 301039/2013-5, 445444/2014-2]
- Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [2004/09961-4, 2006/58226-0, 2009/02312-4, 2010/52324-6, 2010/06927-0, 2010/50174-7, 2011/50242-5, 2013/50484-4]
- Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [11/50242-5, 10/50174-7] Funding Source: FAPESP
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The benthic polyp phase of Medusozoa (Staurozoa, Cubozoa, Scyphozoa, and Hydrozoa) has endoskeletal or exoskeletal support systems, but their composition, development, and evolution is poorly known. In this contribution the variation in synthesis, structure, and function of the medusozoan exoskeleton was examined. In addition, an evolutionary hypothesis for its origin and diversification is proposed for both extinct and extant medusozoans. We also critically reviewed the literature and included data from our own histological and microstructural analyses of some groups. Chitin is a characteristic component of exoskeleton in Medusozoa, functioning as support, protection, and a reserve for various ions and inorganic and organic molecules, which may persuade biomineralization, resulting in rigid biomineralized exoskeletons. Skeletogenesis in Medusozoa dates back to the Ediacaran, when potentially synergetic biotic, abiotic, and physiological processes resulted in development of rigid structures that became the exoskeleton. Of the many types of exoskeletons that evolved, the corneous (chitin-protein) exoskeleton predominates today in polyps of medusozoans, with its greatest variation and complexity in the polyps of Hydroidolina. A new type of bilayered exoskeleton in which there is an exosarc complementing the perisarc construction is here described.
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