Wright, 1858

Description
Umbrella bell-shaped or hemispherical with thickened apical process [Trichydra pudica ]; exumbrella without nematocyst clusters; jelly fairly thick; velum fairly broad. The four radial canals often with exceedingly fine branches, which may anastomose; ring canal ? solid.
Manubrium large, about 2/3 of length bell cavity, four-sided; mouth with four slightly wavy lips.
Each of the four interradial, cushion-like gonads almost completely covers an interradial manubrium wall.
Thirty to forty (or more) solid marginal tentacles with large basal swellings and small basal bulbs; ocelli absent.

Size
Umbrella 2-4 mm wide.

Colour
Manubrium and bases of marginal tentacles brown.

Ecology and depth range
Neritic; both the Pacific and North Sea reports are from the period April-June.

Distribution in the North Sea
Probably only a rare visitor, carried into the English Channel and southern North Sea by water from the cyclonic swirl south of Ireland; also in the northernmost North Sea (Russell, 1953a; Fraser, 1972; as Pochella polynema).

World distribution
E North Atlantic Ocean; Pacific coast of Canada.

Remark
The medusa Pochella polynema Hartlaub, 1917 [Pochella polynema ] appeared to originate from the hydroid Trichydra pudica Wright, 1858 (Edwards, 1973a).

[After Russell, 1953a; Russell, 1978b; Kramp, 1959]

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Cnidaria
Superclass Hydrozoa
Class Leptolida
Subclass Anthoathecatae
Order Filifera
Family Trichydridae
Genus Trichydra
Species Trichydra pudica

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Trichydra pudica Wright, 1858

Scientific synonyms and common names

Pochella polynema | Hartlaub, 1917

Edwards, C., 1973a. The hydroid Trichydra pudica and its medusa Pochella polynema. J. mar. biol. Ass. UK, 53: 87-92.

Kramp, P.L., 1959. The hydromedusae of the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters. Dana Report 46: 1-283; 2 plates, 335 text figures.

Russell, F.S., 1953a. The medusae of the British Isles. Anthomedusae, Leptomedusae, Limnomedusae, Trachymedusae, and Narcomedusae. Cambridge University Press, 530 pp. 319 figures, 35 plates.

Russell, F.S., 1978b. Addenda to Hydromedusae. families: Pandeidae, Trichydridae, Laodiceidae, Proboscidactylidae. Fiches d'Identification du Zooplancton, 161 (1978). Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer, Kopenhagen.

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