Summary
A nematocyte complex in a hydromedusan, Gonionemus vertens, consists of a nematocyst-containing cell that is connected by desmosomes to three epitheliomuscular cells. Each epitheliomuscular cell has two foot processes on which rests a pedicel from an adjacent nematocyte. A model to describe such a nematocyte-epitheliomuscular cell association is proposed. The nematocyte complex is innervated by an axon from the epidermal nerve plexus that synapses with the basal region of the nematocyte.
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Contribution No. 67, Department of Physiological Sciences, Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan, Kansas 66502. This investigation was supported by Grant No. EC 00305 from the Bureau of Community Environmental Management, E.H.S., U.S.P.H.S.
The author is grateful to Mr. Paul D. Enos for assistance; to Mr. Gerald. W. Peterson, artist; and to Professors Richard M. Eakin and Robert D. Klemm for a critical reading of the manuscript.
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Westfall, J.A. The nematocyte complex in a hydromedusan, Gonionemus vertens . Z. Zellforsch. 110, 457–470 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330098
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330098