Digestion, Assimilation, and Transport of Food in the Gastrovascular Cavity of a Gorgonian Octocoral (Cnidaria; Anthozoa)

Radioactive food given to isolated polyps or groups of polyps on Plexaurella nutans becomes distributed throughout the neighborhood of the site of ingestion. The distributions obtained are patchy and suggest transport of pieces of food. Most of the radioactivity is taken up by gastrodermal tissue within the polyps, particularly the mesenterial filaments. Digestion follows a pattern similar to that found previously for the sea anemone Aiptasia.