Turritopsis nutricula McCrady 1857
- Dataset
- On a collection of shallow-water hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from Guadeloupe and Les Saintes, French Lesser Antilles
- Rank
- SPECIES
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Cnidaria
- class
- Hydrozoa
- order
- Anthoathecata
- family
- Oceaniidae
- genus
- Turritopsis
- species
- Turritopsis nutricula
description
Description. Small colony, composed of three stems arising from creeping hydrorhiza. Perisarc doublelayered, slightly undulated with occasional wrinkles, covered with detritus particles. Hydranths, though contracted, fusiform, with 15 – 17 filiform tentacles scattered over distal 2 / 3 – 3 / 4 of body; hypostome domeshaped. Gonophores not seen. Nematocysts (undischarged): microbasic euryteles (5.7 – 6.3) × (2.7 – 2.9); desmonemes (3.9 – 4.1) × (2.4 – 2.6) µm.
discussion
Remarks. Though scarce and sterile, the present specimens are provisionally assigned to McCrady’s (1857) species, pending the discovery of more abundant, fertile material. For descriptions of the hydroid stage of T. nutricula, see Calder (1988 b) and Migotto (1996).
distribution
Distribution. Realiable records are from the western Atlantic (Calder 1988 b, Migotto 1996). They are also supported by recent molecular analyses (Miglietta et al. 2006). The Caribbean records are summarized by Calder & Kirkendale (2005).
materials_examined
Material examined. Stn. 3: 26.01.2008 — three polyps, no gonophores, on alga. Type locality. Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, United States.
Name
- Homonyms
- Turritopsis nutricula McCrady 1857