Chaetognatha

Chaetognatha berasal dari bahasa Yunani yang terdiri dari dua kata, "Chaeton" yang berarti "Sikat" dan
"Gnatos" yang berarti "Rahang atau Mulut" dan umumnya dikenal sebagai "arrowworms" atau cacing
panah karena bentuknya yang menyerupai anak panah. Chaetognatha adalah filum cacing laut predator
yang merupakan komponen utama plankton di seluruh dunia. Mereka ditemukan di semua perairan laut
dari permukaan perairan tropis sampai perairan kutub. Sebagian besar chaetognatha transparan dan
berbentuk torpedo namun beberapa spesies yang hidup di laut dalam berwarna oranye. Ukurannya
berkisar antara 2 sampai 120 milimeter (0,1 sampai 4,7 inci).

    Cacing ini adalah predator dari copepoda, larva ikan dan krustasea lainnya. Chaetognatha
menggunakan mechanoreceptors yang dapat merasakan getaran air untuk mendeteksi organisme
lainnya. Chaetognatha dapat menelan organisme yang lebih besar, mereka menggunakan duri
penggenggam yang ada di kedua sisi kepala mereka dan beberapa spesies memiliki racun khusus yang
digunakan untuk menaklukkan mangsa. Selain sebagai predator yang aktif, chaetognatha juga
merupakan sumber makanan penting bagi ikan dan hewan laut lainnya.

    Semua spesies chaetognatha adalah hermaprodit yang memiliki sel telur dan sperma. Setiap individu
memiliki testis di dalam ekor dan sepasang ovarium di daerah posterior rongga tubuh utama. Sperma
yang belum matang dilepaskan dari testis untuk matang di dalam rongga ekor dan kemudian berenang
melalui saluran pendek ke vesikula seminal dimana mereka diubah menjadi spermatofor.

Behavior, life cycle, and reproduction

Chaetognaths swim in short bursts using a dorso-ventral undulating body motion, where their tail fin
assists with propulsion and the body fins serve more for stabilization and steering (Jordan 1992). As
carnivores, Chaetognaths swim actively to catch prey, which is usually a small copepod, but they can
consume a variety of marine life of the right size, including fish larvae and other arrow worms, as well as
phytoplankton (Pierrot-Bults 2004). They detect prey by sensing movement with ciliar tufts on their
body and use their hooks to grab prey (Pierrot-Bults 2004). Some species are known to use the
neurotoxin tetrodotoxin to subdue prey (Thuesen 1991). Fish and larger carnivorous animals prey on
arrow worms.

Observations on the reproductive behavior of the Chaetognaths species Spadella cephaloptera indicates
that this species cross-fertilizes, with the sperm package being deposited on the body of another
individual of the same species, which then moves the package to the ovaries and stores it there to
fertilize the eggs (Pierrot-Bults 2004).

Arrow worms hatch from eggs and grow without proceeding through a larval stage. In tropical waters,
Sagitta tasmanica takes as little as six weeks to complete its life span, but in cold water it may take two
years to mature (Pierrot-Bults 2004). Arrow worms have some developmental similarities to nematodes.

Lifespan/Longevity

Most cold water chaetognaths have a longer life expectancy than those in tropical waters, two years
versus six weeks, respectively.

Behavior
Many species within this phylum are known to undergo daily vertical migrations, rising to the surface at
night to follow prey and sinking during the day, which provides protection from predators. These worms
have ammonia-filled vacuolated cells in their trunks, which help them to regulate their depth in the
water column. Pelagic chaetognaths move by contracting the longitudinal muscles of their right and left
sides alternately, creating forward, darting motions. Fins do not appear to aid in locomotion, instead
acting as stabilizers.

Communication and Perception

Chaetognaths have a central nervous system with a large cerebral ganglion, dorsal to the pharynx.
Additional ganglia, which serve muscles and sensory organs of the head, arise from this structure. They
also have a pair of circumenteric connective nerves, emerging from the rear of the cerebral ganglion and
extending (posterioventrally) to meet in a ventral ganglion in the epidermis of the trunk. This ganglion
controls swimming motion and also gives rise to many pairs of nerves, which create a subepidermal
nerve plexus.

Chaetognaths have a pair of compound eyes below the epidermis, on the head. They are made up of five
inverted pigment-cup ocelli, one large ocellus directed laterally and four smaller ones directed medially;
this gives these worms a nearly uninterrupted field of vision. Their eyes do not typically have lenses and
likely do not form images, but are used for light reception and body orientation. The ocelli also contain
ciliated receptor cells.

Chaetognaths have a ciliary loop (corona ciliata) on the dorsal surface of the head-trunk juncture, made
up of two rings of cilial cells that may be chemoreceptive and/or aid in sperm transfer. They are covered
in patches of ciliary fans, which enhance the detection of vibrations in the water.

Food Habits

Chaetognaths are carnivorous predators, particularly of copepods. They are also known to feed on other
crustaceans and small fishes. Benthic species are typically ambush predators. They use adhesive
secretions to affix themselves to substrate and extend their mouths and vestibules, as well as their
associated hooks. When prey is detected by a worm (by the cilia on the body), the head darts forward
and prey is captured, using the hooks. Prey is swallowed whole. Panktonic species dart forward in the
water column to catch prey within reach, using their grasping spines to pull prey in. The majority of
these worms inject their prey with a neurotoxin (tetrodotoxin); it has been hypothesized that
chaetognaths have a commensal relationship with bacteria (from genus Vibro) in their heads or guts,
which actually produce the toxin.

Predation

Chaetognaths are prey to many larger organisms including fishes, whales, other marine invertebrates,
and molluscs.

 Sagittoidea

    Sagittoidea adalah kelas dari cacing predator dalam filum chaetognatha.

Ordo sagittoidea dibagi menjadi:
     1. Phragmophora
    Adalah ordo dari cacing laut predator yang masuk kedalam kelas sagittoidea.
 2. Aphragmophora
    Adalah ordo dari kelas sagittoidea yang merupakan cacing laut predator.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Chaetognatha/#34AD5F1C-9AE7-11E2-92C0-002500F14F28

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Chaetognatha