Cnidarians lack true mesoderm, in the sense of a third germ layer that arises as a direct result of gastrulation. However, at the molecular level, muscle development in the medusa of the hydrozoan ...

The recent Invertebrate Wars reminded me of spectacular, but often ignored, group of gastropods. The parasites! This is a group that I have totally geeked out on in the past. In my previous work I ...

Ancient Immunoglobulin Genes Help Cnidarians Decide to Fight or Fuse Immunoglobulin genes might have evolved much earlier than previously expected, perhaps even in the common ancestor of Cnidarians ...

Decades later, Anna Klompen came across this quote, which sparked her interest in marine biology. Eschewing the charismatic megafauna of the ocean, Klompen instead turned to the poorly understood ...

The cnidocytes -- or stinging cells -- that are characteristic of sea anemones, hydrae, corals and jellyfish, and make us careful of our feet while wading in the ocean, are also an excellent model for ...

I ve got an article in today s New York Times about jellyfish and their kin known as cnidarians. Cnidarians look pretty simple, which helped earn them a reputation as simple and primitive compared to ...