The head bears a single pair of contractile but not invaginable tentacles, at the base of which are the eyes.
That substance, in small doses, favours the contractile power of muscle.
The muscular tissue consists primarily of processes from the bases of the epithelial cells, processes which are contractile in nature and may be distinctly striated.
Iwanzov [27] has brought forward strong grounds for the latter view, pointing out that the cnidoblast has no contractile mechanism and that measurements show discharged capsules to be on the average slightly larger than undischarged ones.
In addition to tentacles, there may be marginal cirri (Laodice) with a solid endodermal axis, spirally coiled, very contractile, and bearing a terminal battery of nematocysts.