Velella velella ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Calder, Dale R., 2013, Some shallow-water hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the central east coast of Florida, USA, Zootaxa 3648 (1), pp. 1-72 : 8

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.3648.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:22089255-436A-4DBB-BD93-1D3C8CF281FE

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5263304

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/039B197E-FFD8-F543-E6F9-FCDDFB51131C

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Velella velella ( Linnaeus, 1758 )
status

 

Velella velella ( Linnaeus, 1758) View in CoL

Fig. 1c View FIGURE 1

Medusa velella Linnaeus, 1758: 660 View in CoL .

Velella mutica View in CoL .—L. Agassiz, 1862: 366.—A. Agassiz, 1865: 217.— Fewkes, 1886: 974.

Velella velella View in CoL .— 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 GoogleMaps .

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).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Cnidaria

Class

Hydrozoa

Order

Anthoathecata

Family

Porpitidae

Genus

Velella

Loc

Velella velella ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Calder, Dale R. 2013
2013
Loc

Velella velella

Bayer, F. M. 1963: 454
1963
Loc

Velella mutica

Fewkes, J. W. 1886: 974
Agassiz, A. 1865: 217
Agassiz, L. 1862: 366
1862
Loc

velella Linnaeus, 1758: 660

Linnaeus, C. 1758: 660
1758
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