Colloblast
title: "Colloblast" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["animal-cells", "histology"] topic_path: "general/animal-cells" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloblast" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Ctenophore.jpg" caption="ctenophores]]. They are widespread in the [[tentacle]]s of these animals and are used to capture [[prey]]. Colloblasts consist of a collocyte containing a coiled spiral filament, internal granules and other organelles." alt="A bioluminescent Ctenophore."] ::
Like the cnidocytes of cnidarians, colloblasts are discharged from the animals’ tentacles, and are used to capture prey. However, unlike cnidocytes, which are venomous cells, colloblasts contain adhesives which stick to, rather than sting the prey.
Form, function, and occurrence
Colloblasts were first described in 1844.
The apical surface of colloblasts consist of numerous cap cells that secrete eosinophilic granules that are thought to be the source of adhesion. On contact, these granules rupture, and release an adhesive substance onto the prey. The spiral filament absorbs the impact of the rupture, preventing the ensnared prey from escaping. Colloblasts are found in all ctenophores except those of the order Beroida, which lack tentacles, and the species Haeckelia rubra, which use cnidocytes from cnidarian prey.
References
| last1 = Harrison | first1 = Frederick W. | last2 = Kohn | first2 = Alan J. | date = 1996-12-06 | title = Microscopic Anatomy of Invertebrates, Mollusca II | isbn = 978-0-471-15447-1
|last1=Mari-Luz |first1=Hernandez-Nicaise |year=1984 |chapter=9.7: The integument of the tentacles: the colloblast |editor1-last=Bereiter-Hahn |editor1-first=Jürgen |editor2-last=Matoltsy |editor2-first=A. Gedeon |editor3-last=Richards |editor3-first=K. Sylvia |title=Biology of the Integument Invertebrates |page=107 |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |isbn=9783642515934
|last1 = Leonardi |first1 = N..D. |last2 = Thuesen |first2 = E.V. |last3 = Haddock |first3 = S.H.D. | year = 2020 |title = A sticky thicket of glue cells: A comparative morphometric analysis of colloblasts in 20 species of comb jelly (Phylum Ctenophora) | journal = Ciencias Marinas | volume = 46 | issue = 4 | pages = 211–225 | doi = 10.7773/cm.v46i4.3118 | doi-access = free
| last1 = Pang | first1 = K. | last2 = Martindale | first2 = M.Q. | year = 2008 | title = Comb jellies (ctenophora): A model for basal metazoan evolution and development | journal = Cold Spring Harbor Protocols | volume = 2008 | issue = 12 | at = pdb.emo106 | doi = 10.1101/pdb.emo106 | pmid = 21356709
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