Turritopsis polycirrha
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Turritopsis polycirrha , Meduse (drawing) |
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| Turritopsis polycirrha | ||||||||||||
| ( Keferstein , 1862) |
Turritopsis polycirrha is a Hydrozoen - Art from the genus Turritopsis in the family of oceaniidae . Like other species of the genus Turritopsis , it was previously synonymous with Turritopsis nutricula .
features
Very little is known about the polyp stage in nature. Turritopsis polycirrha probably forms stolonized or only slightly branched hydroid colonies. The red polyp heads (hydrant) have scattered, thread-like tentacles.
The medusa of Turritopsis polycirrha is typical of the species of the genus Turritopsis and reaches a height and a diameter of 4 to millimeters in adult specimens. The upper edge of the screen is rounded. At the edge of the screen there are 90 tentacles , the tips of which are not thickened. The radial channels are wide. The stomach and gonads are bright red to dark crimson.
Turritopsis Medusa from New Zealand, which until recently also belonged to Turritopsis nutricula , seem indistinguishable from Turritopsis polycirrha . Both are morphologically and in color the same and can therefore be distinguished from Turritopsis nutricula .
distribution
Turritopsis polycirrha is distributed in the English Channel , around Great Britain to the north to the Firth of Forth in the east and to the Bristol Channel in the west, in the southern parts of the North Sea and sometimes east to Heligoland . The type locality is Saint-Vaast in the French region of Normandy .
Way of life
Turritopsis polycirrha is a neritic species. Medusas show up in the fall and winter months, occasionally through April, and are most common in September and October. Van der Baan (1980) only found the species along the coast of the Netherlands in December and January. According to Kramp (1930) the medusas are released from the hydroids during June or July, Teissier (1965) gives August. Medusas in the North Sea probably originated in the English Channel (Russell 1953, Edwards 1968).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Peter Schuchert: Revision of the European athecate hydroids and their medusae (Hydrozoa, Cnidaria): Families Oceanidae and Pachycordylidae. Rev. Suisse Zool., Vol. 111 (2), 2004, pp. 315-369. PDF
