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Cnidaria
Velella velella
EOL Text
The Velella is carnivorous but is also the prey of local mollusks. The violet slug, a common predator of the Velella, floats independently as it feeds on Velella. (Ricketts,et al 1997)(Russell-Hunter 1979)
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How to Distinguish from Similar Species: There are no similar species. The attached colonial hydrozoan Tubularia has a similarly structured (though much smaller) polyp but would not be mistaken for this species.
pelagic
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This hydroid polyp remains afloat on the suface of the Pacific Ocean for most of its life. It never touches or even comes close to the ocean bottom, and the only stage in its life when it is completely submerged under water is the larval stage. The Velella velella begins its life in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is brought by the wind to the shores, and is usually cast up on a beach where it dies and disentegrates. The Velella are most common on the high seas, in the warmer regions of the Southern and Northern Hemispheres.
(Russell-Hunter 1979)(Ricketts, et al 1997)
Aquatic Biomes: coastal
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Velella is a cosmopolitan genus of free-floating hydrozoans that live on the surface of the open ocean. There is only one known species, Velella velella, in the genus.[1]Velella velella is commonly known by the names sea raft, by-the-wind sailor, purple sail, little sail, or simply Velella.[2]
These small cnidarians are part of a specialised ocean surface community that includes the better-known cnidarian siphonophore, the Portuguese man o' war. Specialized predatory gastropod mollusks prey on these cnidarians. Such predators include nudibranchs (sea slugs) in the genus Glaucus[3] and purple snails in the genus Janthina.[4]
Each apparent individual Velella velella is in fact a hydroid colony, and most are less than about 7 cm long. They are usually deep blue in colour, but their most obvious feature is a small stiff sail that catches the wind and propels them over the surface of the sea. Under certain wind conditions, they may be stranded by the thousand on beaches.
Like other Cnidaria, Velella velella are carnivorous. They catch their prey, generally plankton, by means of tentacles that hang down in the water and bear cnidocysts (also called nematocysts). Though the toxins in their nematocysts are effective against their prey, V. velella is essentially harmless to humans. While cnidarians all possess nematocysts, in some species the nematocysts and toxins therein are more powerful than other species. V. velella has nematocysts that are relatively benign to humans, although each person may respond differently to contact with the nematocyst toxin. It is wise to avoid touching one's face or eyes after handling V. velella, and itching may develop on parts of the skin that have been exposed to V. velella nematocysts.
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Distribution and habitat[edit]
Velella velella lives in warm and temperate waters in all the world's oceans. They live at the water/air interface, with the float above the water, and polyps hanging down about a centimetre below. Organisms that live partly in and partly out of the water like this are known as pleuston. Offshore boaters sometimes encounter thousands of V. velella on the water surface.
The small rigid sail projects into the air and catches the wind . However Velella sails always align along the direction of the wind where the sail may act as an aerofoil so that the animals tend to sail downwind at a small angle to the wind.[5]
They have also been found as far as the west coast of Ireland, some having being washed up on the shoreline on Cruit Island and, November 2014, on Whitesands Bay beach, Pembrokeshire, West Wales. Several were seen on Pendower Beach, Roseland, Cornwall, also in November 2014.
In December 2014 on Woolacombe beach, North devon UK. The Coast line was scattered with thousands of stranded V.velella. And again on Marazion and Sennen beaches (West Cornwall) in early January 2015.
Having no means of locomotion other than its sail, V. velella is at the mercy of prevailing winds for moving around the seas, and are thereby also subject to mass-strandings on beaches throughout the world. For example, most years in the spring, there is a mass stranding that occurs along the West Coast of North America, from British Columbia to California, beginning in the north and moving south over several weeks' time. In some years, so many animals are left at the tide line by receding waves, that the line of dying (and subsequently rotting) animals may be many centimetres deep, along hundreds of kilometres of beaches. Mass strandings have been reported also on the west coast of Ireland.[6]
Life cycle[edit]
Like many Hydrozoa, Velella velella has a bipartite life cycle, with a form of alternation of generations. The deep blue, by-the-wind sailors that are recognized by many beach-goers are the polyp phase of the life cycle. Each "individual" with its sail is really a hydroid colony, with many polyps that feed on ocean plankton. These are connected by a canal system that enables the colony to share whatever food is ingested by individual polyps. Each by-the-wind sailor is a colony of all-male or all-female polyps. The colony has several different kinds of polyps, some of which are both feeding and reproductive, called gonozooids, and others protective, called dactylozooids.[7]
The gonozooids each produce numerous tiny jellyfish by an asexual budding process, so that each Velella colony produces thousands of tiny jellyfish (medusae), each about 1 mm high and wide, over several weeks. The tiny medusae are each provided with many zooxanthellae, single-celled endosymbiotic organisms typically also found in corals and some sea anemones, that can utilize sunlight to provide energy to the jellyfish. Curiously, although a healthy captive Velella will release many medusae under the microscope, and are expected to do the same in the sea, the medusae of Velella are rarely captured in the plankton and very little is known about their natural history. The medusae develop to sexual maturity within about three weeks in the laboratory and their free-spawned eggs and sperm develop into a planktonic larva called a conaria, which develops into a new floating Velella hydroid colony.[7]
Systematics[edit]
The Porpitidae is a family of the Hydrozoa erected for three genera of hydroids that live floating free at the surface of the open ocean: Velella, Porpita and Porpema. The systematic position of these peculiar genera has long been a topic of discussion among taxonomists who work with pelagic Cnidaria. The three genera were put in with Athecate hydroids in the mid-to-late 19th century by some, whereas other authors at the time included them in the Siphonophora. A new order was established for these genera by Totton,[8] in 1954, called the Chondrophora, while at the same time, other authors favored again placing them in the Anthomedusae/Athecatae.[7] Most authors in the past 40 years have accepted interpretation of these animals as unusual floating colonial Athecate hydroids, which produce medusae clearly belonging in the Anthomedusae. Although the exact position of the family Porpitidae within the Athecatae/Anthomedusae is not yet clear, the order Chondrophora is no longer used by Hydrozoan systematists.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ WoRMS (2013). Velella velella (Linnaeus, 1758). In: Schuchert, P. (2013). World Hydrozoa database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=117832 on 2013-04-23
- ^ Harrington Wells (1937). Seashore Life. Wagner Publishing Company, USA (see pages 138 and 144 in the 1942 edition)
- ^ Gosliner, T.M. (1987). Nudibranchs of Southern Africa page 127, ISBN 0-930118-13-8
- ^ Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. (2010). Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa. Cape Town:Struik Nature. page 188. ISBN 9781770077720.
- ^ McNeill Alexander, R (2002). Principles of Animal Locomotion. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-08678-8.
- ^ http://www.jstor.org/action/viewCitation?doi=10.2307%2F25525026
- ^ a b c A. Brinckmann-Voss (1970). Anthomedusae/Athecatae (Hydrozoa, Cnidaria) of the Mediterranean. Part I. Capitata. Fauna e Flora del Golfo di Napoli 39. Stazione Zoologica. pp. 1–96, 11 pls.
- ^ A. K. Totton (1954). Siphonophora of the Indian Ocean together with systematic and biological notes on related specimens from other oceans. Discovery Reports 27. pp. 1–162.
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Depth range based on 46 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 33 samples.
Environmental ranges
Depth range (m): 0 - 2977
Temperature range (°C): 2.536 - 24.988
Nitrate (umol/L): 1.090 - 26.423
Salinity (PPS): 31.235 - 36.547
Oxygen (ml/l): 2.900 - 6.794
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.074 - 1.602
Silicate (umol/l): 1.840 - 28.123
Graphical representation
Depth range (m): 0 - 2977
Temperature range (°C): 2.536 - 24.988
Nitrate (umol/L): 1.090 - 26.423
Salinity (PPS): 31.235 - 36.547
Oxygen (ml/l): 2.900 - 6.794
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.074 - 1.602
Silicate (umol/l): 1.840 - 28.123
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.
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Velella velella is a pelagic species but is occasionally seen washed up around Britain and Ireland.
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colonial
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Depth Range: Float on surface (pleuston).
Habitat: Worldwide in temperate and tropical seas. Oceanic
Het bezaantje is geen echte kwal, maar een kolonie van poliepjes, die samenleven. Ook het beruchte Portugees oorlogsschip is zo'n kolonie. Er zijn poliepen met verschillende functies: eten, voortplanten, afschrikking. Samen vormen ze een ovale schijf, die op de golven drijft. Op deze ronde schijf heeft een bezaantje een driehoekig zeil. Met het zeiltje bevaart een bezaantje de wereldzeeën. Soms steekt een groep bezaantjes vanuit het Caraïbisch gebied de oceaan over, en belandt zo aan de Europese kusten.
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