Cellular basis for tentacle adherence in the Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia physalis).
The fishing tentacles of Physalia physalis (Portuguese man-of-war) adhere to prey and human victims by the penetration of a barbed tubule connected to an intracellular nematocyst. The nematocyst is surrounded by a fibrillar system of microtubules and microfilaments that terminate in hemidesmosomal processes which anchor the nematocyst to the acellular mesoglea of the tentacle.
D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003063:Cnidaria / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000648:ultrastructure; D037402:Hydrozoa / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008870:Microtubules / Q000648:ultrastructure