Thegastrovascular cavity is the primary organ ofdigestion andcirculation in two major animal phyla: theCoelenterates or cnidarians (includingjellyfish andcorals) andPlatyhelminthes (flatworms). The cavity may be extensively branched into a system of canals. In cnidarians, the gastrovascular system is also known as thecoelenteron, and is commonly known as a "blind gut" or "blind sac", since food enters and waste exits through the same orifice.
Theradially symmetrical cnidarians have a sac-like body in two distinct layers, the epidermis andgastrodermis, with a jellylike layer called themesoglea between. Extracellular digestion takes place within the central cavity of the sac-like body. This cavity has only one opening to the outside which, in most cnidarians, is surrounded bytentacles for capturing prey.
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