Coelenterates

Coelenterates, or coelenterata (Latin Coelenterata, from coelestis “heavenly” + entāre “living in the cavity”) are a group of three-layer multicellular animals with a developed stinging cell and an ectodermal digestive tube, discovered in 1678 by Carl Linnaeus.

Coelenterates can be divided according to body shape, number of tentacles and other characteristics. In total, more than 20 thousand species are known. The body consists of two layers of cells: ectoderm and endoderm, between them there is a gelatinous space - mesoglea, in which digestive vacuoles and the nucleus lie. Digestive system.

The cells of the endodermal lining of the esophagus branch and form outgrowths - the endoderm glandular apparatus. All food passes through this apparatus, and