Hydra

• It is essentially a sedentary organism living attached

to stones, pebbles, and water plants, but can get
released from the substratum and swim. The
name Hydra was given by
scientist Linnaeus because of its special power to
regenerate its lost part like Hydre ( a nine-headed
dragon serpentine of the Greek mythology).
• Systematic position
• Phylum: Coelenterata
Class: Hydrozoa
Order: Hydroida
Suborder: Anthomedusae
Genus: Hydra
• Habit and Habitat
• Hydras are solitary, sessile, freshwater animals,
cosmopolitan in distribution.
• They can be found in a large variety of freshwater
habitats mostly occur in ponds, lakes, and slow-
flowing parts of streams and rivers.
• They may be found attached to and hanging
downwards from the underside of solid objects in
the water such as leaves, sticks, stones, weeds, etc.
• They are carnivorous in habit and feeds on insect
larvae and, especially, small crustaceans.
• It reproduces asexually and sexually.
• External morphology
• 1. Shape and size
• The body of hydra is a small, narrow, elongated , cyclindrical and
tubular structure.
• It measures about 1 cm in length when fully extended.
• When retracted, the body becomes shortened and somewhat
globular and measures only a few millimeters.
• 2. Coloration
• H. vulgaris is colorless, H. gangetica is white or pink in
color, H. oligactis and H. fusca which is brown in color,
and H.viridissima which is green in color (green hydra).
• 3. Pedal Disc
• The proximal or aboral end is termed as a pedal disc is flattened
and plays an important role in temporary attachment.
• It consists of the glandular zone involved in the secretion of
adhesives that make it possible for the organism to attach to the
• 4. Hyptostome, Mouth, and Tentacles
• The distal or oral end of the body column consists of a conical hypostome.
• Hyptostome contains a circular aperture or mouth at its apex which opens into
the gastrovascular cavity or enteron.
• Hypostome is surrounded by 6–10 slender, contractile, and tubular thread-like
processes, called tentacles which can be stretched to several millimeters to
capture prey.
• Tiny stinging cells, called nematocysts, cover the tentacles and are very
specialized, and engage in offense and defense, playing a role in feeding by
paralyzing the prey.
• 5. Buds
• The external surface of the Hydra in some individuals may bear proximally
lateral buds in various stages of development.
• Hydras reproduce asexually, by budding.
• 6. Gonads
• Gonads may be found as projections from the external surface of the body
during the breeding season.
• When present, the male gonads or testes are found at the oral end as conical
projection, whereas the single female gonad or ovary occurs near the basal disc
• Internal structures
• The internal or histological structures of Hydra are best seen in its
longitudinal and transverse sections.
• Gastrovascular cavity
• The internal structures reveal the presence of a body wall and a
central cavity or coelenteron (Or., Koilos, hollow+ enteron, gut),
functionally referred to as the gastrovascular cavity.
• It is surrounded by the body wall. The mouth leads into this cavity
which extends into tentacles as their lumen. There is no anus and no
excretory pore.
• Body wall (Histology)
• Hydra is a diploblastic animal, i.e., it is derived from 2 germ layers,
the ectoderm, and endoderm.
• These germ layers from 2 distinct cellular layers, the outer epidermis,
and the inner gastrodermis, receptively of body wall and tentacles.
• The body is a hollow tube consisting of two layers of cells, separated
by a thin, delicate, transparent, and non-cellular mesoglea.
Hydra reproduces asexually by budding and sexually by the formation of
gametes.
Asexual reproduction of Hydra by Budding
• Figure: Hydra Budding. 1. Non-reproducing, 2. Creating a bud, 3.
Daughter growing out, 4. Beginning to cleave, 5. Daughter broken off, 6.
Daughter clone of the parent.
• Budding is a form of asexual reproduction that results from the
outgrowth of a part of a cell or body region, leading to a separation from
the original organism into two individuals.
• Hydra reproduces asexually by budding. During the summer season,
when the animal is well-fed and healthy, budding is the usual
reproduction method. It occurs all time of the year.
• A bulging appears due to the repeated mitotic division of epidermal
interstitial cells near the middle or in the basal part of the body.
• The bud enlarges, develops a mouth and a circlet of tentacles at its free
end.
• Once the bud is fully developed, it constricts as the base (point of
attachment to the parent Hydra) and finally separates from the parent
body to become an independent organism.
• This process may take about 3 days from start to end.
• Sexual reproduction in Hydra
• Hydra reproduces sexually by the fusion of gametes when
the environmental condition becomes unfavorable
(generally in autumn).
• Most of the species are Unisexual or
Dioecious ( e.g., H. oligactis), in which sexes are separate.
• Testes or male gonads are conical elevations of the body
wall and are usually located near the distal or oral end of
the body. The male is smaller in size and bears 1 to 8 conical
testes containing spermatozoa, while the female is larger
and has 1 0r 2 ovaries containting ova. Ovaries are ovoid
structures located near the basal end of the body.
• Even in hermaphrodite species, self-fertilization is avoided,
because spermatozoa and ova mature at different times.
The testes mature earlier than ovaries(Protandrous
• 3. Fertilization
• Fertilization occurs when ripe sperms cells are
discharged from testis swim about in water until they
approach an extruded ovum and surround it.
• Several sperms may penetrate the gelatinous
covering, but only one enters the ovum and fuses
with it completely. This process is called fertilization,
and the fertilized egg is called oosperm or Zygote.
• The male and female nuclei unite to form
the fusion or zygote nucleus.
• The ovum will die and degenerates unless
fertilization occurs within a short time after it is
exposed.
• 4. Development
• The development begins soo after fertilization, while the egg or zygote still attached to the
parent, by undergoing cleavage or segmentation.
• a. cleavage
• As the egg has little yolk, cleavage is total, and equal (holoblastic), resulting in blastomeres –
cells of equal size.
• b. Blastulation
• The cleavage results in the production of a hollow spherical ball called
the blastula or coeloblastula with a narrow cavity (blastocoel).
• c. Gastrulation
• Some cells of the blastular wall detach and migrate inwards (multipolar ingression).
• While other cells form outer and inner cells by tangential division (primary delamination). As a
result, the blastocoel is completely filled by new cells, and the hollow blastula converts into a
solid gastrula.
• Grastula is made of a single layer of outer cells forming ectoderm, and an inner solid mass of
cells forming endoderm.
• d. Encystation
• Soon a new cavity, called archenteron, appears in the central solid mass of endodermal cells.
• A two-layered protective cyst forms around the gastrula allowing the embryo to survive
changes in the environment. The embryo remains dormant until environmental conditions
improve.
• It withstands drying and freezing and carries the race through droughts and winters. It is also
probable that this resting stage serves for dispersal, for it can be carried by the wind, or in mud
• e. Hatching
• With the advent of the favorable conditions of water
and temperature, development is resumed.
• Interstitial cells arise in the ectoderm
and mesogloea is secreted in between two cellular
layers.
• The embryo elongates, and a circlet of tentacles buds
develops at one end with a mouth appearing in their
midst.
• As the embryo increases in size, the shell or cyst
ruptures, and a young Hydra with tentacles hatches
out. Soon it grows into an adult.
• There are no free larval stages in the development
Wuchereria bancrofti
• Systematic Position
• Phylum: Nematoda
• Class: Phasmidia
• Order: Filaroidea
• Genus: Wuchereria
• Species: bancrofti
• Wuchereria bancrofti is a filarial nematode that
causes Wuchereriasis or filariasis(commonly called
elephantiasis) in human beings. The name of this
worm is given Wuchereria bancrofti in honor of the
two scientists Wucherer and Bancroft. Wuchereria
bancrofti or Bancroft filarial worm is a parasitic
filarial nematode spread by a mosquito vector.
• Habitat
• Adult worms are found in the lymphatic vessel,
especially the lymph nodes.
• The microfilariae are found in the peripheral blood,
occasionally at night from 10pm to 4am.
• W. bancrofti is largely confined to tropics and
subtropics. They are found in India, West-Indies,
Puerto Rico, Southern China, Japan, Pacific Island,
West and central Africa, South America.
• The disease is endemic in 83 countries with more
than 1.2 billion at risk.
• More than 25 million men suffer from genital
symptoms and more than 15 million people suffer
• Morphology of W. bancrofti
• 1. Adult worms
• W. bancrofti exhibits considerable sexual dimorphism.
• These are minute, long hair like transparent (often creamy in color)
nematodes.
• They are filiform in shape with both ends tapering.
• The head end terminating in a slightly round swelling, and surrounded
by two rows of 10 sessile papillae. The posterior end contains anus at its
terminal end.
• The male measures 2.5-4 cm in length with 0.1 mm in thickness. The tail
end is curved ventrally and contains two spicules of unequal length.
• The females are longer than males measure 8-10 cm in length with 0.2-
0.3 mm in thickness. Its tail end is narrow and abruptly pointed. The
females are oviparous.
• The adults obtain their nourishment from the lymph of the lymphatic
system.
• The life span of the adult worms is long, probably several years (5-10
year or even more).
• 2. Microfilariae (Embryos):
• The first stage of larva is called microfilariae.
• They are very active in their habits and can move
both with and against the blood stream, when
sustained, they appear as colorless and transparent
bodies with blunt heads and pointed tails.
• The embryo measures about 290 mm in length by
6-7 mm in breadth.
• 3. Third stage of larva (infective form):
• This larva the infective form of the parasite is found
only in mosquito.
• They are elongated, filariform, measures 1.4-2 cm in
length and 18-23 mm in breadth.
• Life cycle:
• W. bancrofti completes its life cycle in two hosts:
– Definite host: Human
– Intermediate host: mosquito, belonging to genus Culex,
Aedes and Anopheles.
• Life cycle in Human: Entrance in the human and
development into adult worms
– Infection is acquired by the bite of infected mosquito during which
L3 larva are deposited on the skin.
– The L3 larva are not directly injected into the blood stream.
– The L3 larva are deposited on the skin near the site of the puncture.
– Later attracted by the warmth of the skin, the larva enters through
the puncture wound or penetrates through the skin on their own.
– The L3 larva after penetrating the skin, reaches the lymphatic
channels, settles down at some spot (inguinal, scrotal or abdominal
lymphatics), metamorphose and becomes sexually mature.
– The male fertilizes the female and the gravid females discharge
microfilariae which usually appear in the peripheral blood in 8-12
month of infection.
– These micro filariae circulate in the blood for 6 months to 2 years
and then die if not taken by mosquito.
• Life cycle in Mosquito: Stages in the development of micro
filaria
– Microfilaria ingested by the mosquito lose their sheath within 2 to 6
hours of their arrival in the stomach.
– Then they penetrate the gut wall and migrate to the thoracic muscle,
where they rest and begin to grow.
– In the next 2 days, microfilaria become thick, measuring 124-200 mm in
length 10-17 mm in breadth. This is the first stage larva L1.
– During 3-7 days of time, the larva grows rapidly, moults once or twice
and measures 225-330 mm in length by 15-30 mm in breadth. This is
the second stage larva L2.
– Metamorphosis completes by 10-11days with distinct features This is
the third stage larva L3.
– These L3 larva are the infective form which enters the proboscis sheath
of the mosquito on or about the 14th day.
– When the mosquito bites a man during the blood meal, the L3 larva are
released from the tip of proboscis of mosquito and the cycle is
repeated.
• Pathogenesis of Wuchereria Bancrofti:
• The pathogenic effect of Wuchereria bancrofti are
produced by the adult either living or dead. Light infection
produces no serious symptoms. It causes filarial fever,
head ache and mental depression. In heavy infection, the
adult, living or dead blocks lymphatic vessels and glands,
resulting in various pathological conditions.
• When the disease has caused the enlargement of such
organs as the scrotum, breasts or legs, it is called
elephantiasis. The adult worm causes an inflammatory
reaction of lymphatic system, obstruction of lymph in the
organs results in their enlargement called lymphedema.
• Symptoms of filarial infection include fever, tenderness of
infected parts, eosinophilia inflammation and transient
swelling.
• Treatment of Disease Caused by Wuchereria Bancrofti:
• No proper medicine is available to eradicate the filaria worms.
• However, following filarial drugs can be used:
• 2. Heterazan compound (Diethyl carbamaide) can be used to
check microfilariae.
• 3. (Paramelaminyl phenyl stibonate) is effective on infective
larvae and immature adult worm.
• Control of Disease Caused by Wuchereria Bancrofti:
• 1. Eradication of mosquito by insecticide or by other control
measures.
• 2. Reducing infection amongst mosquitoes.
• 3. Treatment of carriers by using heterazan and cyanine.
• 4. Movement from areas of infection.
• 5. Protection from mosquitoes, using mosquito net or mosquito
repellent while sleeping in night, and
• 1. Habit and Habitat of Hirudinaria Granulosa:
• Hirudinaria granulosa is a common Indian cattle
leech found in Nepal India Patkistan Bangladesh etc.
In fresh water, it occurs in water tanks, ponds, lakes,
swamps, and slow streams. It is sanguivorous
(blood-sucking) sucking the blood of fishes and
frogs, ands also of cattle or human beings when
they enter the pond.
• Leeches show a great diversity in their habits and
habitat. Some species are marine, some are
freshwater, while others are terrestrial. Leeches are
hermaphrodite but cross-fertilization takes place by
copulation. Development is direct .
• External structure
• Shape and size
• The body is soft slimy elongated bilaterally symmetrical
dorsoventrally flattened and metamerically segmented.
• In a state of extension the body is dorsoventrally flattened but
in a state of contraction, the body becomes more or less
cylindrical. The body is broadest near the posterior end, while
narrowest near the anterior end. It has great power of
contraction and expansion. A full grown specimen may attain
the length of 30 to 35 cm.
• (ii) Colouration:
• The body of leech shows protective colouration
(Camouflaging). The dorsal surface is generally olive-green and
the ventral surface is orange-yellow or orange-red and the two
sides bear distinct stripes of orange or yellow and black. On
the dorsal side is a median longitudinal black stripe.
• (iii) Segmentation:
• The body of leech is divided metamerically into 33 segments.
• In case of leech the external segmentation does not
correspond with the internal segmentation. Each segment is
broken up externally by grooves into rings called annuli.
• The first and second segments have one annulus each, the
third has two annuli, segments fourth to sixth have three
annuli each, segments seventh to twenty-second are broad
having five annuli each, segments twenty-third to twenty-sixth
have two annuli each, segments twenty-seventh to thirty-third
have one annulus each, they form the posterior sucker.
• However, segments with less than five annuli are referred to as
incomplete, while those with five annuli are called complete
segments. A temporary clitellum is formed around the 9 th 10th
and 11th segments during breeding season.
• Suckers:
• Each end of the body of leech bears a hollow muscular organ,
the sucker. The anterior sucker or cephalic or oral sucker is
formed by the fusion of the prostomium with First three
segments. It is oval in shape.
• The posterior sucker or anal sucker is circular in outline and
forms the highly muscular disc at the posterior end of the body
of leech. It is formed by the fusion of last seven segments. It is
much better developed and larger in size than the anterior
sucker. Both suckers are directed ventrally, the leech can firmly
grip the substratum by its suckers. The two suckers are primarily
meant for adhesion and locomotion. Anterior sucker also helps
in feeding.
• Eyes:
• On the dorsal side are five pairs of eyes, one pair on each of the
first and second segments, and one pair on the first annulus of
• (vii) External Apertures:
• External apertures in the body are as follows:
• (a) Mouth:
• It is a narrow triradiate aperture situated in the centre of the funnel like pre-
oral chamber of the anterior sucker.
• (b) Anus:
• It is a very small aperture situated mid-dorsally on the twenty-sixth segment at
the base of the posterior sucker.
• (c) Nephridiopores:
• There are seventeen pairs of nephridiopores lying on the ventral surface of the
body, of which one pair lies on the last annulus of each of the segments from
sixth to twenty-second.
• (d) Male generative aperture:
• It is situated in a groove between the second and third annuli of the tenth
segment on the mid-ventral line of body. A filamentous penis is sometimes seen
protruding through this aperture.
• (e) Female generative aperture:
• It is usually smaller than the male aperture. It is situated mid-ventrally in a
groove between the second and third annuli of the eleventh segment of the
• Divisions of Body of Hirudinaria:
• The body of leech is composed of 33 segments and is divisible into the following six
regions:
• 1. Cephalic or Head Region:
• It is composed of the first five segments. It includes the prostomium, anterior sucker, the
mouth and the eyes;
• Nephridiopores are absent .
• 2. Preclitellar Region:
• It includes three segments, i.e., VI, VII, and VIII, all bearing nephridiopores.
• 3. Clitellar Region:
• It is composed of three complete segments, i.e., IX, X and XI. There is no permanent
clitellum in Hirudinaria but temporary clitellum develops only during breeding season.
Nephridiopores are also present in this region, the male and female apertures are situated
mid-ventrally on the X and XI segments respectively.
• 4. Middle Region:
• It is the largest region of the body and consists of eleven complete segments (XII to XXII) and
possess nephridiopores.
• 5. Caudal Region:
• This region is short and consists of four segments i.e., XXIII to XXVI. Segment XXVI bears the
anal aperture on the dorsal side. There are no nephridiopores.
• 6. Posterior Sucker:
• It is composed of seven segments (XXVII to XXXIII) arranged in concentric rings and each
• Copulation and Fertilisation in Hirudinaria Granulosa:
• Copulation takes place in the months of March and
April; during copulation two leeches come together by
their ventral surfaces pointing in opposite directions, so
that the male aperture of each is opposite the female
aperture of the other. The penis of each is inserted into
the vagina of the other and spermatophores are
deposited, so that there is mutual exchange of of
seminal fluid.
• Copulation may occur on land or in water, it lasts for an
hour after which the two worms separate. Fertilisation
occurs in vagina, i.e., it is internal. The fertilised eggs are
discharged through the female genital aperture into the
cocoon (ootheca) where further development occurs.
• Copulation and Fertilisation in Hirudinaria Granulosa:
• Copulation takes place in the months of March and
April; during copulation two leeches come together by
their ventral surfaces pointing in opposite directions, so
that the male aperture of each is opposite the female
aperture of the other. The penis of each is inserted into
the vagina of the other and spermatophores are
deposited, so that there is mutual insemination.
• Copulation may occur on land or in water, it lasts for an
hour after which the two worms separate. Fertilisation
occurs in vagina, i.e., it is internal. The fertilised eggs are
discharged through the female genital aperture into the
cocoon (ootheca) where further development occurs.
• Cocoon or Ootheca Formation in Hirudinaria Granulosa:
• The cocoons of Hirudinaria are formed in April, May and
June. The clitellum forms around segments nine to eleven
during breeding season, its glands secrete a frothy girdle
which hardens to form a cocoon, the clitellar glands
secrete albumen into the cocoon used as nourishment by
the developing embryo.
• The fertilised eggs are extruded into the cocoon. The
leech wriggles out backwards from the cocoon, the two
ends are closed by polar plugs secreted by the prostomial
glands. The cocoon is light yellow , about 25-30mm long
and 12-15mm diameter. The cocoons are always laid in
moist mud but never in water and become harder on
exposure to air. Cocoon formation takes about six hours.
• Development of Hirudinaria Granulosa:
• Development of young proceeds within the cocoon.
In each cocoon one to twenty-four embryos
develop and swim in the cocoon feeding on
albumen, they finally escape from the cocoon.
Development is direct, there is no larva, and it is
completed in about fourteen days.
• Economic important
• As food
• As predator
• As transmittor of disease
• Medical importance