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The gastrovascular cavity is the primary organ of digestion and circulation in two major animal phyla: the Coelenterates or cnidarians (including jellyfish and corals) and Platyhelminthes (flatworms). The cavity may be extensively branched into a system of canals.
Pacific sea nettles, Chrysaora fuscescens. Cnidaria (/ n ɪ ˈ d ɛər i ə, n aɪ-/ nih-DAIR-ee-ə, NY-) [4] is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species [5] of aquatic invertebrates found both in fresh water and marine environments (predominantly the latter), including jellyfish, hydroids, sea anemones, corals and some of the smallest marine parasites.
Gastrodermis (from Ancient Greek: γαστήρ, gastḗr, "stomach"; δέρμα, dérma, "skin") is the inner layer of cells that serves as a lining membrane of the gastrovascular cavity in cnidarians. [1] It is distinct from the outer epidermis and the inner dermis and is primarily associated with the ventral side of cnidarians.
Coelenterata is a term encompassing the animal phyla Cnidaria (corals, true jellies, sea anemones, sea pens, and their relatives) and Ctenophora (comb jellies). The name comes from Ancient Greek κοῖλος (koîlos) 'hollow' and ἔντερον (énteron) 'intestine', referring to the hollow body cavity common to these two phyla.
Intracellular digestion can also refer to the process in which animals that lack a digestive tract bring food items into the cell for the purposes of digestion for nutritional needs. This kind of intracellular digestion occurs in many unicellular protozoans, in Pycnogonida, in some molluscs, Cnidaria and Porifera.
In cnidarians and in flatworms such as planarians, the digestive cavity, called a gastrovascular cavity, has only one opening that serves as both mouth and anus. There is no specialization within this type of digestive system because every cell is exposed to all stages of food digestion.
In the phylum Cnidaria and the class Anthozoa, the mesenteries are sheet-like partitions that extend from the body wall of the animal into its gastrovascular cavity. They are composed of a layer of mesogloea sandwiched between two layers of gastrodermis .
Desmonema are able to capture and extracellularly digest their prey, which in turn speeds up their process of digestion. [3] [6] For example, squid and fish are larger prey that would need to be reduced to smaller particles for easier and more efficient digestion. [6]