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In situ foraging and feeding behavior of narcomedusae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa)

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Date Issued:
1989
Title: In situ foraging and feeding behavior of narcomedusae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa).
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Name(s): Larson, R. J.
Mills, C. E.
Harbison, G. R.
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Article
Date Issued: 1989
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Place of Publication: Cambridge
Physical Form: pdf
Extent: 11 p.
Language(s): English
Identifier: FA00007200 (IID), 10.1017/S002531540003215X (doi)
Note(s): Narcomedusae are a small and mostly oceanic group of hydromedusae whose tentaclemorphology and comportment sets them off behaviourally and perhaps ecologically frommost other medusae. Their tentacles are relatively few in number (2-40), stiff, and noncontractile,with points of insertion located well above the bell margin. Eleven speciesrepresenting eight narcomedusan genera (Aegina, Aeginura,an undescribed aeginid, Cunina,Pegantha, Solmaris, Solmissus, and Solmundella) were observed and collected in situ in theNW Atlantic, Arctic and Antarctic, using scuba and manned submersibles. In life, thetentacles of narcomedusae are nearly always held upwards over the bell or projectedlaterally. The major prey were other gelatinous zooplankton, especially salps and doliolids.In the laboratory, these relatively large prey were caught on the tentacles which bendinward and coil at the tips to bring food to the mouth. By extending the tentaclesperpendicular to the swimming path, these medusae achieve a relatively large encounterarea, thus increasing the probability of contact with prey, for the amount of protein invested in tentacles.
Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution 730
This manuscript is an author version with the final publication available and may be cited as: Larson, R. J., Mills, C. E., & Harbison, G. R. (1989). In situ foraging and feeding behavior of narcomedusae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 69(4), 785-794. doi: 10.1017/S002531540003215X
Subject(s): Cnidaria
Hydrozoa
Narcomedusae
Animals--Food
Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S002531540003215X
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00007200
Host Institution: FAU