Velella velella velella (Linnaeus 1758
Authors/Creators
Description
Fig. 1c
Medusa velella Linnaeus, 1758: 660.
Velella mutica.—L. Agassiz, 1862: 366.—A. Agassiz, 1865: 217.— Fewkes, 1886: 974.
Velella velella.— Bayer, 1963: 454, figs. 5–7.
Type locality. Mediterranean Sea (Schuchert 2010).
Voucher material. Beach north of Jupiter Inlet, 26°56’45”N, 80°04’16”W, stranded on shore, 20.ii.1991, collected manually, one young colony, left-sailing form, 5 mm long x 2 mm wide, without gonophores, coll. D.R. Calder, ROMIZ B1113.
Remarks. Strandings of the pleustonic hydrozoan Velella velella (Linnaeus, 1758) on beaches of south Florida vary from one year to another (Bayer 1963). Bayer noted that strong easterly winds during winter tend to blow this species and the related Porpita porpita (Linnaeus, 1758) ashore from the Florida Current just off the coast.
The specimen from the beach at Jupiter Inlet examined here was a left-sailing form, as defined by Edwards (1966). Of more than 2500 specimens from the Tortugas studied by A. Agassiz (1883), all were likewise of the “left-handed” (left-sailing) form, with the sail extending from NW to SE along the longitudinal axis of the float. Distributions of left and right-sailing forms of the species in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea were reviewed by Edwards (1966). Sailing characteristics of the species were investigated in a wind tunnel by Francis (1991).
Early on considered siphonophores and later as “chondrophores,” both V. velella and P. porpita are now classified amongst the hydroids, as anthoathecates (Calder 1988, 2010; Schuchert 2010, 2012a, b). Sometimes reported from Florida as Velella mutica Lamarck, 1801, that binomen is considered a junior synonym of V. velella (Calder 1988; Schuchert 2010).
Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida. “ Coast of Florida ” (L. Agassiz 1862, as Velella mutica).— Cape Florida (A. Agassiz 1865, as V. mutica).— Gulf Stream; Straits of Florida (Fewkes 1886, as V. mutica).— Miami area (Bayer 1963).
Western Atlantic. New England (A. Agassiz 1883, as Velella mutica) to Argentina (Oliveira et al. submitted), including Bermuda (Calder 1988), the Gulf of Mexico (Calder & Cairns 2009), and the Caribbean Sea (Fewkes 1885, as V. mutica).
Elsewhere. Circumglobal in tropical and temperate waters (Calder 2010; Schuchert 2012b).
Notes
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Linked records
Additional details
Identifiers
Biodiversity
- Collection code
- ROMIZ
- Material sample ID
- B1113
- Event date
- 1991-02-20
- Verbatim event date
- 1991-02-20
- Scientific name authorship
- velella (Linnaeus
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Cnidaria
- Order
- Anthoathecata
- Family
- Porpitidae
- Genus
- Velella
- Species
- velella
- Taxon rank
- species
- Taxonomic concept label
- Velella velella (Linnaeus, 1758 sec. Calder, 2013
References
- Linnaeus, C. (1758) Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae, 823 pp.
- Agassiz, L. (1862) Contributions to the natural history of the United States of America. Vol. IV. Little, Brown, Boston, 380 pp.
- Agassiz, A. (1865) Illustrated catalogue of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Harvard College. No. II. North American Acalephae. Sever & Francis, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 234 pp.
- Fewkes, J. W. (1886) Report on the medusae collected by the U. S. F. C. steamer Albatross, in the region of the Gulf Stream, in 1883 - ' 84. United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, Report of the Commissioner for 1884, 12, 927 - 980.
- Bayer, F. M. (1963) Observations on pelagic mollusks associated with the siphonophores Velella and Physalia. Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean, 13, 454 - 466.
- Schuchert, P. (2010) The European athecate hydroids and their medusae (Hydrozoa, Cnidaria): Capitata Part 2. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 117, 337 - 555.
- Edwards, C. (1966) Velella velella (L.): the distribution of its dimorphic forms in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, with comments on its nature and affinities. In: Barnes, H. (Ed.), Some contemporary studies in marine science, 1966. George Allen & Unwin, London, pp. 283 - 296.
- Agassiz, A. (1883) Exploration of the surface fauna of the Gulf Stream under the auspices of the Coast Survey. III. Part I. The Porpitidae and Velellidae. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, 8 (2), 1 - 16.
- Francis, L. (1991) Sailing downwind: aerodynamic performance of the Velella sail. Journal of Experimental Biology, 158, 117 - 132.
- Calder, D. R. (1988) Shallow-water hydroids of Bermuda: the Athecatae. Royal Ontario Museum, Life Sciences Contributions, 148, 1 - 107.
- Calder, D. R. (2010) Some anthoathecate hydroids and limnopolyps (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from the Hawaiian archipelago. Zootaxa, 2590, 1 - 91.
- Schuchert, P. (2012 a) World Hydrozoa database. Available from: http: // www. marinespecies. org / hydrozoa (accessed 20 July 2012)
- Lamarck, J. B. P. A. de (1801) Systeme des animaux sans vertebres, ou tableau general des classes, des ordres et des genres de ces animaux. Paris, 432 pp.
- Calder, D. R. & Cairns, S. D. (2009) Hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) of the Gulf of Mexico. In: Felder, D. L. & Camp, D. K. (Eds.), Gulf of Mexico. Origin, waters, and biota. Vol. 1. Biodiversity. Texas A & M University Press, College Station, pp. 381 - 394.
- Fewkes, J. W. (1885) On a collection of medusae made by the United States Fish Commission Steamer Albatross in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 8, 397 - 402. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.1080 / 11250000902740962
- Schuchert, P. (2012 b) North-west European athecate hydroids and their medusae. Synopses of the British Fauna, new series, 59, 364 pp.