You are here
Taxon
Rathkea octopunctata (M. Sars, 1835)
Nomenclature
-
Family: RathkeidaeGenus: Rathkea
-
Synonyms: 7
SUMMARY
Colonies stolonal, hydranths arising from a ramified, creeping hydrorhiza.
Hydranths pyriform to spindle-shaped, capable of extension to 0.3 mm, with four thread-like filiform oral tentacles up to 2 mm in length.
Juvenile gonophores ovoid, 0.5 mm high and 0.3 mm wide, borne erect from stolon on a very short pedicel. Viewed from above, the young medusa within the gonophore has four thick internal lobes, probably radial canals, and two central red spots connected by a thin red line.
Newly released medusa with balloon-shaped umbrella, 0.6 mm high and 0.4 mm wide, slightly thickened apically, with faint radial canals passing down the umbrella to the tentacle bases. A quadrangular manubrium extended more than halfway through the bell; mouth a simple broad disk.