Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 270, Issue 1531, Pages 2349-2354Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2504
Keywords
rhabdomeric photoreceptor; planula; pigment-cup ocelli; Tripedalia cystophora; Chiropsalmus sp.; Chironex fleckerii
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Earlier detailed studies of cnidarian planula larvae have revealed a simple nervous system but no eyes or identifiable light sensing structures. Here, we describe the planula of a box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora, and report that these larvae have an extremely simple organization with no nervous system at all. Their only advanced feature is the presence of 10-15 pigment-cup ocelli, evenly spaced across the posterior half of the larval ectoderm. The ocelli are single cell structures containing a cup of screening pigment filled with presumably photosensory microvilli. These rhabdomeric photoreceptors have no neural connections to any other cells, but each has a well-developed motor-cilium, appearing to be the only means by which light can control the behaviour of the larva. The ocelli are thus self-contained sensory-motor entities, making a nervous system superfluous.
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