Scientific Illustration

On Turritopsis nutricula (McCrady) By William Keith Brooks & Samuel Rittenhouse,

factstofigures:

Contributing Artists: Simon Chew, Daniel Cole, Nigel Gerke, R. Gibson, Toni Hargreaves, P. J. Hayward, Phyllis Knight-Jones, Paul J. Llewellyn, P. J. A. Pugh, J. S. Ryland, and Nathalie Yonow.

Hayward, P. J. and Ryland, J. S. (Eds.) (1995). Handbook of the Marine Fauna of North-West Europe. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

The siphonophore Gymnopraia lapislazula gen nov., sp. nov. Approximately lateral view of the whole colony. Abbreviations: somatocyst (so); hydroecium (hy, fine dashed line); internal pedicular canal (pi); external pedicular canal (pe); right lateral canal (rlc); left lateral canal (llc); upper radial canal (uc); lower radial canal (loc).

Haddock, SHD, CW Dunn, and PR Pugh (2005) A reexamination of siphonophore terminology and morphology, applied to the description of two new prayine species with remarkable bio-optical properties. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K. 85:695-707. doi:10.1017/S0025315405011616 (pdf)

The siphonophoreLilyopsis fluoracantha sp. nov. (A) Whole animal in approximately lateral view. The nectophore drawn on the left is pointing slightly out of the page, and the one on the right is pointing into the page; (B) lateral view of a bract and cormidial bell from the bract’s right side. Spur and gastrozooid are shown only for orientation, and do not accurately represent their positions; (C) upper view of the bract. Note that the bract comes to sit on the dorsal side of the stem. Abbreviations: anterior (An); posterior (Po); bracteal left (BrL); bracteal right (BrR); somatocyst (so); hydroecium (hy, fine dashed line); pedicular canal (pc); right lateral canal (rlc); left lateral canal (llc); upper radial canal (uc); lower radial canal (loc); red pigment spot (rp); marginal tubercule (tu); bract (br); stem (st); cormidial bell (cb); spur (sp); gastrozooid (gz); longitudinal bracteal canal (lnc); lateral bracteal canal (lac); upper bracteal canal (ubc); anterior hydroecial canal (ah); posterior hydroecial canal (ph).

Haddock, SHD, CW Dunn, and PR Pugh (2005) A reexamination of siphonophore terminology and morphology, applied to the description of two new prayine species with remarkable bio-optical properties. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K. 85:695-707. doi:10.1017/S0025315405011616 (pdf)

“Diagrams of siphonophore structure. The anterior end is up unless otherwise noted. The stem can be divided into two regions, the nectosome (which bears the nectophores that propel the entire colony) and the siphosome (which bears all other zooids). Scale bars are approximate. (a) A cystonect, Rhizophysa eysenhardti, scale bar = 2 cm (adapted from Kawamura, 1910). Cystonects have a pneumatophore and a siphosome, but no nectosome. (b) Agalma elegans, scale bar = 2 cm (adapted from Totton, 1954). This species has traditionally been placed in the Physonectae, a grade taxon that includes species with a nectosome (except Athorybia), a siphosome, and a pneumatophore. (c) A calycophoran, Rosacea flaccida, scale bar = 1 cm (adapted from Biggs et al., 1978). Calycophorans have a nectosome and a siphosome, but no pneumatophore. (d) Lateral view of a portion of siphosomal stem from the physonect Agalma okeni (adapted from Bigelow, 1911) showing some zooids in detail, scale bar = 2 mm. The figured region is part of a series that repeats, with only slight differences, along the entire length of the siphosome. Lateral view (e) and view from the lower surface (f) of a detached nectophore of Halistemma rubrum, scale bar = 5 mm. Nectophores aremedusae that are specialized for propulsion, and contraction causes water to exit from ostium, which faces to the left in these figures. The nectosac (subumbrella) is indicated by stippling. Nourishment is provided from the stem by a series of canals, which sometimes include the descending pallial canal (DPC). The point of attachment (PA) to the stem is also shown. B, bract; GA, gastrozooid; GD, gonodendron (a compound reproductive structure consisting of gonophores, palpons, and special nectophores that propel detached gonodendra but not the entire colony); GO, gonophore; N, nectophore; P, palpon; Pn, pneumatophore; T, tentacle (of the gastrozooid)”

Dunn, CW, PR Pugh, and SHD Haddock (2005) Molecular phylogenetics of the Siphonophora (Cnidaria), with implications for the evolution of functional specialization. Systematic Biology 54:916-935. doi:10.1080/10635150500354837 (pdf)

biomedicalephemera:

Siphonophorae

Siphonophores are members of the order Hydrozoa, and include species such as the Portuguese Man ‘o War. Though they appear to be similar to jellyfish in form, they’re actually composed of many smaller organisms, grouped together in specialized colonies.

You can see the full colony of Physophora hydrostatica in the center of this illustration. At the top left and top right, the specialized gas bladders are isolated and viewed from above. On the bottom left and right, the “body” (center trunk) of the colony is shown without any polyps attached, viewed from top and from bottom.

Kunstformen der Natur [Plate 37]. Ernst Haeckel, 1904.