Janaria mirabilis Stechow, 1921

Estrada-González, Mariae C., Agüero, José & Mendoza-Becerril, María A., 2023, Medusozoans from the Mexican Pacific: a review based on historical literature and recent observations, Journal of Natural History 57 (1), pp. 784-853 : 819

Janaria mirabilis Stechow, 1921

( Figure 4F )

Material examined

1 colony, polyp; Salvatierra Wreck, La Paz Bay , Baja California Sur, 24.384°N, 110.294°W; depth 18 m; 11 July 2019; on pagurid hermit crab; photograph .

Description (after Cairns and Barnard 1984)

Corallum encrusting a gastropod shell that encloses and protects a pagurid hermit crab. The hydroid colony bears five calcified branches, slightly curved, which radiate outward from the peripheral whorl of the gastropod shell.

Distribution

In the Mexican Pacific, the species has been reported from Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, and Jalisco ( Stechow 1962; Cairns and Barnard 1984; Miglietta et al. 2009).

Remarks

The record of J. mirabilis arises from an underwater photograph; hence, the morphological details of the polyps at the microscopic level were not observed. However, J. mirabilis is a monotypic species ( Cairns and Barnard 1984; WoRMS Editorial Board 2023), confirming the photographic record.

Figures

Figure 4. A, Geryonia proboscidalis (Forsskål, 1775): medusa oral view. B, Coryne pusilla Gaertner, 1774: hydrant. C, Pennaria disticha Goldfuss, 1820: hydranth. (D, E) Eudendrium capillare Alder, 1856: D, hydranth; E, male gonophore. F, Janaria mirabilis Stechow, 1921: colony. Scale bars: B = 500 μm; C = 250 μm; D = 200 μm. Drawings made by Nicholas Bezio (A–E) and Mariae C. Estrada-González (F).