Porpita porpita (Linnaeus, 1758)

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 : 818

Porpita porpita (Linnaeus, 1758)

( Figure 5D )

Material examined

2 colonies, gonozooids not seen; El Candelero Beach, Espíritu Santo Archipelago, Baja California Sur, 24.497°N, 110.392°W; water surface; 1 April 2017; photograph . – 1 colony, gonozooids not seen; Bay of Dreams , Baja California Sur, 23.992°N, 109.830°W; water surface; 10 April 2021; ECO-CH-Z 11793 . Caleta de Campos , Michoacán, 18.074°N, 102.749W; stranded; 22 December 2022; photograph .

Identification (after Calder 1988; Schuchert 2010)

Pleustonic hydroids, with disc-shaped mantle, and internal float. Mantle and float slightly convex, with a central pore and numerous stigmata. Undersurface with a single central gastrozooid. Dactylozooids with a distal whorl of capitate tentacles, mouth lacking.

Distribution

Previously recorded in the Gulf of California ( Dunn et al. 2005). In the MP, recorded from the states of Nayarit ( Bigelow 1911) and Michoacán ( Gamero-Mora et al. 2015).

Figures

Figure 5. (A–C) Hydrocoryne sp.: A, hydranth; B, undischarged microbasic eurytele and stenotele nematocysts; C, discharged stenotele nematocyst. D, Porpita porpita (Linnaeus, 1758): colony. E, Corydendrium sp.: colony. (F, G) Cirrholovenia sp.: F, colony; G, hydrotheca. Scale bars: A = 500 μm; B, C = 20 μm; G = 100 μm. Photograph taken by Ángel Silveyra Bustamante (D).