Species
Ctenophora
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
“Ctenophores have been described as the most beautiful, delicate, seemingly innocent yet most voracious, sinister and destructive of plankton organisms.” (Mianzan et al., 2009)
Ctenophores are gelatinous marine animals, similar in many ways to jellyfish but lack stinging cnidae, and movement is via the coordinated beating of cilia (“combs”) instead of muscular contractions. As of 2008, about 150 species had been described. They occur throughout the ocean, at all depths and are mostly planktonic, though a few are benthic. Comb jellies are efficient predators, consuming zooplankton such as fish eggs, copepods, amphipods, and larvae. Some eat jellyfish, salps, and other ctenophores. They range in size from a few millimeters to 2 m long, and most are transparent and bioluminescent.
(Ruppert et al., 2004; Mianzan et al., 2009)
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Soulanille, Elaine, Soulanille, Elaine, EOL Rapid Response Team |
| Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/15441 |
Depth range based on 1 specimen in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 1 sample.
Environmental ranges
Depth range (m): 223 - 223
Temperature range (°C): 0.579 - 0.579
Nitrate (umol/L): 11.652 - 11.652
Salinity (PPS): 33.849 - 33.849
Oxygen (ml/l): 6.628 - 6.628
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.938 - 0.938
Silicate (umol/l): 10.951 - 10.951
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.
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| Rights holder/Author | Ocean Biogeographic Information System |
| Source | http://www.iobis.org/mapper/?taxon_id=836299 |
Ctenophores occur in all oceans and all depths. Most species are planktonic, so live within the water column, but the platyctenids are benthic and attach to the surfaces of sessile organisms. (Unlike most ctenophores, which are transparent, the platyctenids are pigmented in camouflaging patterns.)
(Ruppert et al., 2004)
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Soulanille, Elaine, Soulanille, Elaine, EOL Rapid Response Team |
| Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/15441 |
All ctenophores are carnivores (Mianzan et al., 2009).
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Soulanille, Elaine, Soulanille, Elaine, EOL Rapid Response Team |
| Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/15441 |
Ctenophora (Ctenophores) is prey of:
Peprilus triacanthus
invertebrate predators
Ctenophora
Chaetognatha
Actinopterygii
Clupea harengus
Alosa pseudoharengus
Scomber
Pollachius pollachius
Merluccius bilinearis
Urophycis regia
Urophycis tenuis
Urophycis chuss
Gadidae
Melanogrammus aeglefinus
Leucoraja erinacea
Leucoraja ocellata
Amblyraja radiata
Paralichthys dentatus
Pleuronectes americanus
Mustelus canis
Squalus acanthias
Odontoceti
Scombridae
Other suspension feeders
Mya arenaria
Crassostrea virginica
Polychaeta
Nereis
meiofauna
Callinectes sapidus
Alosa chrysochloris
Anchoa mitchilli
Brevoortia tyrannus
Alosa sapidissima
Micropogonius undulatus
Trinectes maculatus
Morone americana
Arius felis
Pomatomus saltatrix
Based on studies in:
USA: Rhode Island (Coastal)
USA, Northeastern US contintental shelf (Coastal)
unknown (Marine, Pelagic)
USA: Maryland, Chesapeake Bay (Estuarine)
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
- J. N. Kremer and S. W. Nixon, A Coastal Marine Ecosystem: Simulation and Analysis, Vol. 24 of Ecol. Studies (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1978), from p. 12.
- M. R. Landry, A review of important concepts in the trophic organization of pelagic ecosystems, Helgolander wiss. Meeresunters. 30:8-17, from p. 12 (1977).
- Link J (2002) Does food web theory work for marine ecosystems? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 230:19
- Baird D, Ulanowicz RE (1989) The seasonal dynamics of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Ecol Monogr 59:329364
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Cynthia Sims Parr, Joel Sachs, SPIRE |
| Source | http://spire.umbc.edu/fwc/ |
Ctenophora (Ctenophores) preys on:
Acartia
Acartia tonsa
detritus
bacteria
Copepoda
Calanus
Oithona-Oncaea type
Euchaeta
Centropages
Amphipoda
Euphausia
ciliates and nauplii
Pseudocalanus
invertebrate predators
Ctenophora
Chaetognatha
phytoplankton
Pteropods
Bacteria attached to suspended POM
Bacillariophyceae
Based on studies in:
USA: Rhode Island (Coastal)
Pacific (Tropical)
USA: North Carolina, Pamlico (Estuarine)
USA, Northeastern US contintental shelf (Coastal)
unknown (Marine, Pelagic)
USA: Maryland, Chesapeake Bay (Estuarine)
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
- J. N. Kremer and S. W. Nixon, A Coastal Marine Ecosystem: Simulation and Analysis, Vol. 24 of Ecol. Studies (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1978), from p. 12.
- B. J. Copeland, K. R. Tenore, D. B. Horton, Oligohaline regime. In: Coastal Ecological Systems of the United States, H. T. Odum, B. J. Copeland, E. A. McMahan, Eds. (Conservation Foundation, Washington, DC, 1974) 2:315-357, from p. 318.
- T. S. Petipa, Trophic relationships in communities and the functioning of marine ecosystems: I. Studies in trophic relationships in pelagic communities of the southern seas of the USSR and in the tropical Pacific. In: Marine Production Mechanisms, M. J. D
- M. R. Landry, A review of important concepts in the trophic organization of pelagic ecosystems, Helgolander wiss. Meeresunters. 30:8-17, from p. 12 (1977).
- Link J (2002) Does food web theory work for marine ecosystems? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 230:19
- Baird D, Ulanowicz RE (1989) The seasonal dynamics of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Ecol Monogr 59:329364
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Cynthia Sims Parr, Joel Sachs, SPIRE |
| Source | http://spire.umbc.edu/fwc/ |
An interdisciplinary team recently sequenced the full genome of the ctenophore Pleurobrachia bachei (Cydippida). This group analyzed the genetics and neural physiology of P. bachei in the context of genetic sequence available for other ctenophore species, finding that ctenophores have a very different set of genes and signal molecules involved in their nervous system, immune system and development than do all other animals. Ctenophores have a “highly reduced complement of animal-specific genes,” lacking, for example, HOX genes (as do sponges), neuron-specific genes such as classic neurotransmitters, and immune system-related receptors and mediators (Moroz et al., 2014).
The placement of ctenophores in the tree of life has long been controversial. Moroz et al. (2014) found that phylogenetic analyses of 114 genes from representatives of the Ctenophora, Porifera, Placozoa, Cnidaria and Bilateria recover ctenophores as basal to all other animals, suggesting that neural muscular systems evolved twice independently in the animal lineage: once in ctenophores, and subsequently in the bilateria+cnidaria lineage. This is consistent with the remarkably distinct underlying organizations of neural muscular systems in theses two lineages.
This study also recovered strong resolution of relationships within the ctenophores, which suggest a new understanding of ctenophore evolution, including derivation of larval stages, tentacle apparatuses and benthic ecology and bilaterial nature.
Moroz et al. published their work in Nature under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 licence, available at this link: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v510/n7503/full/nature13400.html
- Moroz, L. L., Kocot, K. M., Citarella, M. R., Dosung, S., Norekian, T. P., Povolotskaya, I. S., Grigorenko, A. P., Dailey, C., Berezikov, E., Buckley, K. M., Ptitsyn, A., Reshetov, D., Mukherjee, K., Moroz, T. P., Bobkova, Y., Yu, F., Kapitonov, V. V., Jurka, J., Bobkov, Y. V., Swore, J. J., Girardo, D. O., Fodor, A., Gusev, F., Sanford, R., Bruders, R., Kittler, E., Mills, C. E., Rast, J. P., Derelle, R., Solovyev, V. V., Kondrashov, F. A., Swalla, B. J., Sweedler, J. V., Rogaev, E. I., Halanych, K. M., Kohn, A. B., 2014. The ctenophore genome and the evolutionary origins of neural systems. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13400.
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| Rights holder/Author | Dana Campbell, Dana Campbell |
| Source | No source database. |
Light used for instant signaling: comb jellies
An enzyme called photoprotein in comb jellies produces light when calcium changes the enzyme's shape, releasing energy.
"In a firefly bioluminescence reaction, an enzyme known as a luciferase uses adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to activate a molecule called a luciferin. The product of this reaction combines with molecular oxygen to produce an excited-state oxyluciferin species. When oxyluciferin relaxes back to its ground state, energy is released in the form of light…Jellyfish-like animals called ctenophores—can do without [ATP to jump-start bioluminescence]. Instead, they use a luciferin of intrinsically higher energy and prepackage it with oxygen in an enzyme known as a photoprotein. Calcium activates the reaction by changing the shape of the photoprotein, which releases the invested energy in the form of light." (Pepling 2006)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.
- Pepling, Rachel Sheremeta. 2006. All That Glows: Bioluminescence provides practical applications while still remaining a mystery. Chemical & Engineering News. 84(14): 36-38.
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| Rights holder/Author | (c) 2008-2009 The Biomimicry Institute |
| Source | http://www.asknature.org/strategy/fff57b34b56ee926efbf845556b69c7c |
Genomic DNA is available from 1 specimen with morphological vouchers housed at British Antarctic Survey
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| Rights holder/Author | Text can be freely copied and altered, as long as original author and source are properly acknowledged. |
| Source | http://www.oglf.org/catalog/details.php?id=T00349 |
Ctenophores are invertebrate marine animals commonly referred to as "comb jellies" and "sea walnuts." Fewer than 100 species of this phylum have been identified. All ctenophores have fragile, transparent bodies and eight rows of cilia called comb plates that they use to swim. Ctenophores are also characterized by the colloblasts found on the surface of their tentacles. These specialized glue cells secrete a sticky substance that helps ctenophores catch prey.
- National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) at http://www.nbii.gov