Porpita prunella

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Porpita prunella
Porpema Prunella.png
Porpita prunella, from Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hydrozoa
Order: Anthoathecata
Family: Porpitidae
Genus: Porpita
Species:
P. prunella
Binomial name
Porpita prunella
(Haeckel, 1888) [1]
Synonyms
  • Porpalia prunellaHaeckel, 1888
  • Porpema prunella(Haeckel, 1888)
  • Discalia medusinaHaeckel, 1888

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. [2]

Description and characteristics

The sole reported observation of a member of the species was by Haeckel in 1888. He had mistakenly placed several illustrations of the species from different views and stages of its life cycle on siphonophorae, as the chondrophores were originally placed along with the Siphonophores. [3] However simple conclusions about the species can be made from these illustrations and the relationship between the other members of Porpitidae, as all of the chondrophores have features common to all species. [4]

All chondrophores possess small tentacles that are known to cause minor irritation to human skin. They live at the surface of the open ocean, and are colonies of carnivorous, free-floating hydroids whose role in the plankton community is similar to that of pelagic jellyfish. The structures that cause their buoyancy – floats – are gas-filled membranes in other chondrophores. The floats are not obvious in this species from Haeckel's description, and have not been formally described, although the strange hat-like structure on the hydrozoan's aboral side may have this function. [5] The hydroid colony itself closely resembles the tentacles of a scyphozoan; however, each tentacle structure is an individual zooid, which may consist of a medusa or a polyp. [6] Each strand consists of numerous branchlets, which all end in stinging nematocysts.

The species is considered to be neustonic, passively drifting on the surface of the sea. A single mouth is located on its underside, and it appears to be re-orientable and movable. The mouth is used for both the intake of prey and the expulsion of wastes. [7]

Related Research Articles

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The Portuguese man o' war, also known as the man-of-war, 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 blue bottle, 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.

<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.

<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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthoathecata</span> Order of hydrozoans which always have a polyp stage

Anthoathecata, or the athecate hydroids, are an order of hydrozoans belonging to the phylum Cnidaria. A profusion of alternate scientific names exists for this long-known, heavily discussed, and spectacular group. It has also been called Gymnoblastea and, Anthomedusa,Athecata, Hydromedusa, and Stylasterina. There are about 1,200 species worldwide.

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

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<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.

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

Porpita porpita, or the blue button, is a marine organism consisting of a colony of hydroids found in the warmer, tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Arabian Sea. It was first identified by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, under the basionym Medusa porpita. In addition, it is one of the two genera under the suborder Chondrophora, which is a group of cnidarians that also includes Velella. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cladonematidae</span> Family of hydrozoans

Cladonematidae is a small family of anthomedusan hydrozoans. They have stolonal hydroid colonies, and their medusae are benthic and can crawl across the sediment; in many species they have lost the ability to swim however.

Lovenellidae is a family of hydrozoans. Their hydroids live together in upright stolonal or sympodial colonies, and their gonophores are pedunculate free-roaming medusae. The relationships of this fairly small but distinctive radiation to other members of the order Leptothecata are not well understood at present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haleciidae</span> Family of hydrozoans

Haleciidae is a family of hydrozoans. Their hydroid colonies emerge from a creeping hydrorhiza and usually form upright branching colonies, although some species' colonies are stolonal. Their gonophores are typically sporosacs, growing singly or bunched into a glomulus. They remain attached to the hydroids or break off to be passively drifted away; in a few, the gonophores are naked.

Bougainvillia aberrans is a marine invertebrate, a species of hydroid in the suborder Anthomedusae. It was first described by Dale Calder in 1993. They have four radical clusters of marginal tentacles. Bougainvillia aberrans is found in Bermuda in the western North Atlantic Ocean.

<i>Solanderia</i> Genus of hydrozoans

Solanderia is the sole genus of hydrozoans in the monotypic family Solanderiidae. They are commonly known as tree hydroids or sea fan hydroids.

<i>Pennaria disticha</i> Species of hydrozoan

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<i>Aeginura grimaldii</i> Species of hydrozoan

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<i>Clava multicornis</i> Genus of hydrozoans

Clava is a monotypic genus of hydrozoans in the family Hydractiniidae. It contains only one accepted species, Clava multicornis. Other names synonymous with Clava multicornis include Clava cornea, Clava diffusa, Clava leptostyla, Clava nodosa, Clava parasitica, Clava squamata, Coryne squamata, Hydra multicornis, and Hydra squamata. The larvae form of the species has a well developed nervous system compared to its small size. The adult form is also advanced due to its ability to stay dormant during unfavorable periods.

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References

  1. WoRMS (2018). Schuchert P (ed.). "Porpita prunella (Haeckel, 1888)". World Hydrozoa database. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  2. WoRMS (2008). Schuchert P (ed.). "Porpema Haeckel, 1888". World Hydrozoa database. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  3. Totton, A.K. (1954): Siphonophora of the Indian Ocean together with systematic and biological notes on related specimens from other oceans. Discovery Reports 27: 1-162.
  4. "Kunstformen der Natur (1900)". BioLib Online Library of Biology Books. Kurt Stueber. 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  5. Lipps, Jere H.; Signor, Philip (1992). Origin and Early Evolution of the Metazoa (1st ed.). p. 161. ISBN   9780306440670 . Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  6. A. Brinckmann-Voss (1970). Anthomedusae/Athecatae (Hydrozoa, Cnidaria) of the Mediterranean. Part I. Capitata. Fauna e Flora del Golfo di Napoli. Vol. 39. Stazione Zoologica. pp. 1–96, 11 pls.
  7. Cuvier, Abron (1836). The animal kingdom, arranged according to its organization, serving as a foundation for the natural history of animals and an introduction to comparative anatomy (1st ed.). pp. 423–427. Retrieved January 16, 2015.