Tentaculata

Tentaculata
Mertensia ovum
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Ctenophora
Class:	Tentaculata Eschscholtz, 1825
Orders
Cestida Cydippida Lobata Platyctenida

Tentaculata is a class of comb jellies. The common feature of this class is a pair of long, feathery, contractile tentacles, which can be retracted into specialised ciliated sheaths. In some species, the primary tentacles are reduced and they have smaller, secondary tentacles. The tentacles have colloblasts, which are sticky-tipped cells that trap small prey.

Body size and shape varies widely. The group includes the small, oval sea gooseberries (genus Pleurobrachia), found on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The more flattened species of the genus Mnemiopsis, about 4 inches long (10 cm), are common on the upper Atlantic coast; it has a large mouth and mainly feeds on larval molluscs and cope pods. This species is brilliantly luminescent. The similar, but larger, genus Leucothea is abundant on the Pacific coast. Venus' girdle (genus Cestum) is a flattened, ribbon-like form reaching over 3 feet (90 cm) in length, and found in tropical waters.

References

Barnes, R.S.K. et al. (2001). The Invertebrates: A Synthesis. Oxford: Blackwell Science. ISBN 0-632-04761-5