Nutritive-Muscular Cells (Gut-and-Muscle Cells)

Lining the inside

Hydras, jellyfish and sea anemones have a body like a bag with one opening: the mouth. Food goes in the mouth, into the stomach space inside.

Nutritive-muscular cells line that stomach space. Each one has:

• One or two long whips called flagella on top, sticking into the stomach.
• Little food bubbles inside, where food gets broken down.
• Muscle tails at the bottom that wrap around the body.

Eating and squeezing

First, other cells pour juices into the stomach to break food into tiny bits. Then the nutritive-muscular cells get to work:

• Their whips swish to stir the food and water around.
• They gulp tiny bits of food right into the cell and finish breaking it down.
• Their muscle tails squeeze around the body to make it longer and thinner.

Nutritive-muscular cell quiz