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Cilia-driven surface currents characterize specific cnidarian groups and lifecycle stages
Theres Koch1,2, Karina Araslanova1, Thibault Bouderlique1
1Department of Neuroimmunology, Center for Brain Research, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Communications Biology
|March 12, 2026
Summary
Surface water currents are vital for sessile animals like cnidarians, aiding feeding and metabolism. Their distribution varies across species, suggesting evolutionary adaptations in flow complexity and generation.
Area of Science:
- Marine Biology
- Zoology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Sessile animals rely on body surface-associated water currents for essential functions like feeding, cleaning, and metabolic exchange.
- The evolutionary history and distribution of these surface currents within cnidarians are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the presence and characteristics of directional surface currents in various cnidarian groups.
- To understand the evolutionary significance and ecological correlates of surface-associated flows.
Main Methods:
- Tracking the movement of fluorescent beads on live cnidarian specimens to visualize surface-associated flows.
- Observing flow patterns across different cnidarian classes (Anthozoa, Scyphozoa, Cubozoa) and life stages.
Main Results:
- Surface-associated flows are widespread across cnidarians but exhibit variable complexity.
- Flow patterns correlate with animal size, coloniality, and feeding strategies.
- Cilia-driven surface flows were absent in octocorals, hydrozoans, and staurozoans, and also absent in medusae but present in polyps of the same species.
Conclusions:
- The structural organization and flow regimes of surface currents are evolutionarily significant and linked to diverse cnidarian lifestyles.
- The absence of cilia-driven flows in certain groups and life stages suggests evolutionary gains and losses driven by selective pressures.
- Muscle-mediated motility in medusae may reduce the need for surface hydrodynamic control, influencing the distribution of cilia-driven currents.
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