Cited by 121Marine Invertebrate Physiology and EcologyNeurobiology and Insect Physiology ResearchPlanarian Biology and Electrostimulation

A simple visual system without neurons in jellyfish larvae

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Nordström, K., Wallén, Seymour, J., Nilsson, D.·2003·Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences

Abstract

Earlier detailed studies of cnidarian planula larvae have revealed a simple nervous system but no eyes or identifiable light sensing structures. Here, we describe the planula of a box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora, and report that these larvae have an extremely simple organization with no nervous system at all. Their only advanced feature is the presence of 10-15 pigment-cup ocelli, evenly spaced across the posterior half of the larval ectoderm. The ocelli are single cell structures containing a cup of screening pigment filled with presumably photosensory microvilli. These rhabdomeric photoreceptors have no neural connections to any other cells, but each has a well-developed motor-cilium, appearing to be the only means by which light can control the behaviour of the larva. The ocelli are thus self-contained sensory-motor entities, making a nervous system superfluous.

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Crossref · 10.1098/rspb.2003.2504

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  • Such a transformation probably also happened in the case of photoreceptors, which started as cell-autonomous sensory-motor units and evolved into sensory-motor neurons regulating ciliary bands.

    “Such a transformation probably also happened in the case of photoreceptors, which started as cell-autonomous sensory-motor units [36,38,44] and evolved into sensory-motor neurons regulating ciliary bands (figure 2b).”

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Authors
Nordström, K., Wallén, Seymour, J., & Nilsson, D.
Affiliations
  • Lund University (SE)
  • James Cook University (AU)
Corresponding author
Nilsson, D.
Venue
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
Published
2003-11-22
Volume
270
Issue
1531
Pages
2349-2354
ISSN
  • 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
  • 0962-8452
  • 1471-2954
OpenAlex
W2018680074
Cited by
121
References
23
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 5
FWCI
4.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ResearchOnline at James Cook University (James Cook University) (submittedVersion)
  • Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
  • Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Planarian Biology and Electrostimulation
Keywords
box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora, planula larvae, rhabdomeric photoreceptors, optical sensing, nervous system evolution, larval behavior
MeSH terms
Animals, Larva, Microscopy, Electron, Pigments, Biological, Vision, Ocular, Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate, Scyphozoa

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