Porpita porpita

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Porpita porpita
Porpita porpita.jpg
Blue button
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hydrozoa
Order: Anthoathecata
Family: Porpitidae
Genus: Porpita
Species:
P. porpita
Binomial name
Porpita porpita

Porpita porpita, or the blue button, is a marine organism consisting of a colony of hydroids [2] found in the warmer, tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Pacific, [3] Atlantic, and Indian oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Arabian Sea. [4] It was first identified by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, under the basionym Medusa porpita. [5] [6] In addition, it is one of the two genera under the suborder Chondrophora, which is a group of cnidarians that also includes Velella . [7] The chondrophores are similar to the better-known siphonophores, which includes the Portuguese man o' war, or Physalia physalis. Although it is superficially similar to a jellyfish, each apparent individual is actually a colony of hydrozoan polyps. The taxonomic class, Hydrozoa, falls under the phylum Cnidaria, which includes anemones, corals, and jellyfish, which explains their similar appearances.

Contents

Description

The blue button can grow up to 30 mm in diameter [7] and lives on the surface of the sea and consists of two main parts: The float and the hydroid colony. The hard golden brown float is round, almost flat, and about one inch wide. The float organ is responsible for the organism's vertical movement [5] [8] and also contains pores that are able to communicate with other P. porpita organisms as well as its surroundings. [9] The hydroid colony, whose polyps can range from bright blue turquoise to yellow; the polyps resemble the tentacles of jellyfish. [10] [11] [ full citation needed ] Each strand has numerous branchlets, each of the knobs of stinging cells called nematocysts terminates at the distal end. The blue button has a single mouth located beneath the float, which is used for both the intake of prey and the expulsion of wastes. The mouth is surrounded by a ring of gonozooids and dactylozooids. [6] Tentacles are only found on the dactylozooids, which exist furthest away from the mouth, towards the outer part of the hydroid colony. [4]

Habitat and feeding

The blue button is a part of the neustonic food web, which covers the organisms that inhabit the region on or near the surface of the ocean. This is because it is a passive drifter, which means that it relies on water currents and wind to carry it through the ocean. It is preyed on by the sea slug Glaucus atlanticus (sea swallow or blue dragon), violet sea-snails of the genus Janthina , [12] and the other blue dragon, Glaucus marginatus . [13] Unlike Velella, which prefers a passive diet, Porpita will hunt active crustaceans like crab and fish. [14] It competes with other drifters for food, and mainly feeds on copepods and crustacean larvae.

Commensalism with a fish

Young Carangoides malabaricus , also known as the 'Malabar trevally', have been shown to take shelter underneath the floats of Porpita porpita. When removed from its host, the fish will panic. These juvenile fish also appear to show preference for a particular siphonophore. When two pairs of Porpita porpita and Carangoides malabaricus are separated by species, then returned to the same tank, each fish will return to its respective partner. [15] [1]

Effects of global warming

The blue button sting is not powerful but may cause slight irritation to human skin. [2] [10] [16] However, in recent years, it has been hypothesized that due to global warming, Porpita pacifica (another name for the species) [1] [6] colonies have begun appearing in larger numbers along coastlines in Japan and the first case of contact dermatitis from this species was recorded. [17] A sudden increase in the abundance of Porpita porpita has also been observed in a separate study of its populations in the Ionian and Adriatic seas, possibly also due to rising temperatures throughout the oceans. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cnidaria</span> Aquatic animal phylum having cnydocytes

Cnidaria, is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in freshwater and marine environments, including jellyfish, hydroids, sea anemones, corals and some of the smallest marine parasites. Their distinguishing features are a decentralized nervous system distributed throughout a gelatinous body and the presence of cnidocytes or cnidoblasts, specialized cells with ejectable flagella used mainly for envenomation and capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living, jelly-like substance, sandwiched between two layers of epithelium that are mostly one cell thick. Cnidarians are also some of the only animals that can reproduce both sexually and asexually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portuguese man o' war</span> Marine invertebrate found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

The Portuguese man o' war, also known as the man-of-war or bluebottle, is a marine hydrozoan found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It is considered to be the same species as the Pacific man o' war or bluebottle, which is found mainly in the Pacific Ocean. The Portuguese man o' war is the only species in the genus Physalia, which in turn is the only genus in the family Physaliidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrozoa</span> Class of cnidarians

Hydrozoa is a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial species can be large, and in some cases the specialized individual animals cannot survive outside the colony. A few genera within this class live in freshwater habitats. Hydrozoans are related to jellyfish and corals and belong to the phylum Cnidaria.

<i>Obelia</i> Genus of hydrozoans

Obelia is a genus of hydrozoans, a class of mainly marine and some freshwater animal species that have both polyp and medusa stages in their life cycle. Hydrozoa belongs to the phylum Cnidaria, which are aquatic organisms that are relatively simple in structure with a diameter around 1mm. There are currently 120 known species, with more to be discovered. These species are grouped into three broad categories: O. bidentata, O. dichotoma, and O. geniculata. O. longissima was later accepted as a legitimate species, but taxonomy regarding the entire genus is debated over.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chondrophore</span> Small group of hydrozoans comprising the family Porpitidae

The chondrophores or porpitids are a small group of hydrozoans in the family Porpitidae. Though it derives from an outdated name for this lineage, some still find the term 'chondrophore' useful as a synonym to 'porpitid' in discussions of the two genera contained therein, Porpita and Velella.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siphonophorae</span> Order of colonial hydrozoans with differentiated zooids

Siphonophorae is an order within Hydrozoa, which is a class of marine organisms within the phylum Cnidaria. According to the World Register of Marine Species, the order contains 175 species described thus far.

<i>Velella</i> Species of cnidarian

Velella is a monospecific genus of hydrozoa in the Porpitidae family. Its only known species is Velella velella, a cosmopolitan free-floating hydrozoan that lives on the surface of the open ocean. It is commonly known by the names sea raft, by-the-wind sailor, purple sail, little sail, or simply Velella.

<i>Turritopsis dohrnii</i> Species of small, biologically immortal jellyfish

Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as the immortal jellyfish, is a species of small, biologically immortal jellyfish found worldwide in temperate to tropic waters. It is one of the few known cases of animals capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary individual. Others include the jellyfish Laodicea undulata and species of the genus Aurelia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydroidolina</span> Subclass of hydrozoans

Hydroidolina is a subclass of Hydrozoa and makes up 90% of the class. Controversy surrounds who the sister groups of Hydroidolina are, but research has shown that three orders remain consistent as direct relatives: Siphonophorae, Anthoathecata, and Leptothecata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leptothecata</span> Order of cnidarians with hydrothecae

Leptothecata, or thecate hydroids, are an order of hydrozoans in the phylum Cnidaria. Their closest living relatives are the athecate hydroids, which are similar enough to have always been considered closely related, and the very apomorphic Siphonophorae, which were placed outside the "Hydroida". Given that there are no firm rules for synonymy for high-ranked taxa, alternative names like Leptomedusa, Thecaphora or Thecata, with or without the ending emended to "-ae", are also often used for Leptothecata.

<i>Turritopsis</i> Genus of hydrozoans

Turritopsis is a genus of hydrozoans in the family Oceaniidae.

<i>Marrus orthocanna</i> Species of hydrozoan

Marrus orthocanna species of pelagic siphonophore, a colonial animal composed of a complex arrangement of zooids, some of which are polyps and some medusae. Swimming independently in the mid-ocean, it lives in the Arctic and other cold, deep waters. It is a colonial creature that is born from a single egg which is fertilized. Later on, a protozoan forms that eventually grows to form more duplicating members of the colony. It belongs to the order Siphonophorae and the genus Marrus, which also includes M. antarcticus, M. claudanielis, and M. orthocannoides.

<i>Eudendrium ramosum</i> Species of hydrozoan

Eudendrium ramosum, sometimes known as the tree hydroid, is a marine species of cnidaria, a hydroid (Hydrozoa) in the family Eudendriidae of the order Anthoathecata.

<i>Apolemia</i> Family of cnidarians

Apolemia is a genus of siphonophores. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Apolemiidae.

Maeotias is a genus of hydrozoans in the family Olindiidae. It is a monotypic genus with only a single species, Maeotias marginata, commonly known as the Black Sea jellyfish or brackish water hydromedusa and often referred to as Maeotias inexpectata in the literature. It was first described from the Don and Kuban estuaries of the Sea of Azov, and also occurs in the Black Sea, all of which are areas of low salinity. It has been recorded in several other estuarine locations around the world and is regarded as an invasive species.

<i>Porpita prunella</i> Species of hydrozoan

Porpita prunella is a marine species of hydrozoan organisms within the family Porpitidae. It consists of colonies of zooids. Very little is known about this species, as there have been no confirmed sightings since its discovery in 1801 and naming by Haeckel in 1888. Being in the chondrophore group, it is likely that its behaviour is similar to the other species of the genera in the family. However there are also serious doubts as to its very existence as a separate species and may in fact be a synonym for Porpita porpita instead.

<i>Turritopsis rubra</i> Species of small South Pacific hydrozoan

Turritopsis rubra, commonly referred to as the Crimson Jelly, is a hydrozoan within the family Oceaniidae. The species is native to New Zealand and southern Australia, typically appearing near shorelines in the summer months. The species follows a distribution pattern across the southern Pacific Ocean and can frequently be found in shallow coastal waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physonectae</span> Suborder of siphonophores

Physonectae is a suborder of siphonophores. In Japanese it is called 胞泳.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zancleidae</span> Family of cnidarians

Zancleidae is a family of cnidarians belonging to the order Anthoathecata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosalindidae</span>

Rosalindidae is a family of cnidarians belonging to the order Anthoathecata.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Schuchert P, ed. (2011). "Porpita porpita(Linnaeus, 1758)". World Hydrozoa database. World Register of Marine Species. doi:10.14284/170 . Retrieved 2011-12-18– via VLIZ.
  2. 1 2 "Blue button jellyfish (Porpita porpita) blue jellyfish with fringe". beachhunter.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  3. ↑ Meinkoch, Norman (1981). The Audubon Field Guide to North American Seashore Creatures. The Audubon Field Guides. New York, NY: Audubon Society.
  4. 1 2 Gul, Shahnawaz; Gravili, Cinzia (11 March 2014). "On the occurrence of Porpita porpita (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) at Pakistan coast (north Arabian Sea)". Marine Biodiversity Records (online ed.). 7: e24. doi:10.1017/S1755267214000189. ISSN   1755-2672.
  5. 1 2 Lillo, Antonio; Tiralongo, Francesco; Tondo, Elena (2019). "New records of Porpita porpita(Linnaeus, 1758) (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) in the Mediterranean Sea". Natural and Engineering Sciences. 4: 293–298. doi: 10.28978/nesciences.646425 .
  6. 1 2 3 Calder, Dale R. (August 2010). "Some anthoathecate hydroids and limnopolyps (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from the Hawaiian archipelago". Zootaxa. 2590 (1): 31. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.2590.1.1 .
  7. 1 2 Deidun, Alan (2010). "Notes on the recent occurrence of uncommon pelagic 'jellyfish' species in Maltese coastal waters". Naturalisa Siciliano. 3-4. 4 (34): 375–384.
  8. ↑ Fryer, G.; Stanley, G.D. (2004). "A Silurian porpitoid hydrozoan from Cumbria, England, and a note on porpitoid relationships". Palaeontology. 47 (5): 1109–1119.
  9. ↑ Chowdhury, M. Shah Nawaz; Sharifuzzaman, S.M.; Chowdhury, Sayedur Rahman; Rashed-Un-Nabi, M.D.; Hossain, M. Shahadat (2016-06-01). "First record of Porpita porpita (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the coral reef ecosystem, Bangladesh". Ocean Science Journal. 51 (2): 293–297. doi:10.1007/s12601-016-0025-9. ISSN   2005-7172. S2CID   89423938.
  10. 1 2 Kennedy, Jennifer (3 July 2019). "Identification of jellyfish and jelly-like animals". Science, Tech, Math › Animals & Nature. ThoughtCo. Item 11 of 11 – Blue button jellyfish (bottom of page). Archived from the original on 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  11. ↑ "Identification Chart for Jellies". Archived 2009-02-21 at the Wayback Machine [ failed verification ]
  12. ↑ Hayward, P.J.; Ryland, J.S. (1990). The Marine Fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe. Vol. 2 – Molluscs to Chordates. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. p. 681. ISBN   0-19-857515-7.
  13. ↑ Salleh, Anna (12 February 2021). "Bizarre 'blue fleet' blows onto Australia's east coast". ABC News (abc.net.au). Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  14. ↑ Saygın, Özlem (2017). "On the occurrence of blue button, Porpita porpita (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from Levantine coast of Turkey". Natural and Engineering Sciences. 2: 33–36. doi: 10.28978/nesciences.328905 .
  15. ↑ Noble, A. (1963). "Association between the fish, Caranx malabaricus(Cuv. & Val.) and the siphonophore, Porpita pacifica(Lesson)". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India. 5: 142–143.
  16. ↑ Ramanibai, R.; Govindan, S.; Balakrishnan, T. (2014). "Notes on the occurrence of Porpita porpita (Blue button) from Pulicat Lagoon". Journal of Research in Biology. 4 (7): 1487–1490.
  17. ↑ Oiso, N.; Fukai, K.; Ishii, M.; Ohgushi, T.; Kubota, S. (April 2005). "Jellyfish dermatitis caused by Porpita pacifica, a sign of global warming?". Contact Dermatitis. 52 (4): 232–233. doi:10.1111/j.0105-1873.2005.0566f.x.
  18. ↑ Bianchi, C.N. (2007). "Biodiversity issues for the forthcoming tropical Mediterranean Sea". Hydrobiologia. 580: 7–21.
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