Chondrophore
Encyclopedia
The chondrophores or porpitids are a small and very unusual group of hydrozoa
ns today classified as family
Porpitidae. Though it derives from an outdated name for this lineage (see below), some still find the term "chondrophore" useful as a synonym to "porpitid" in discussions of the three genera
contained therein.
They all live at the surface of the open ocean, and are colonies of carnivorous, free-floating hydroids whose role in the plankton community is similar to that of pelagic jellyfish
. The chondrophores look like a single organism
but are actually colonial animals
, made up of an orderly cooperative of polyp
s living under a specialized sail-structure.
The most familiar members of the family Porpitidae are the Blue Button (Porpita porpita
) and the By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella).
The tiny individual animals are specialized to perform specific tasks; some form the central gas
-filled disc (which is a golden brown colour and hardened by chitin
ous material) essential to keeping the colony afloat; others form radiating tentacles for tasks such as catching prey
, reproduction, and digestion
. Microplankton
is a chondrophore's principal prey. Although none have powerful stings, contact with the skin may cause irritation. At the mercy of winds and currents, chondrophores are pelagic
and drift in the open ocean
. They are often seen in large aggregations; mass beachings are not unusual. Chondrophores multiply by releasing tiny (0.3-2.5 millimetres or 0.01-0.09 inches) medusa
e which go on to develop new colonies.
Velella
differs from Porpita by their transparent, membranous sail-shaped floats; filled with gas, the membranes have a texture reminiscent of cellophane
. Both genera have turquoise
to dark blue mantles and tentacles, with lemon-yellow morphs occasionally encountered. Neither group is particularly large: the floats of Velella are usually under 7.6 centimetres (3 inches) in diameter, while those of Porpita are usually less than 3.8 centimetres (1.5 inches).
Chondrophora was created by A.K. Totton in 1954 to accommodate these three unusual genera of Hydrozoa as their taxonomic affinities were unclear. They had previously been placed either in the Anthomedusae
(also known as Athecata) or the Siphonophora
, and though many accepted Totton's placement, a considerable number of authors maintained them in the Anthomedusae/Athecata all the time.
By the 1970s/1980s, nearly all Hydrozoan systematists were in agreement that these genera did indeed belong in that group and the order Chondrophora became defunct, replaced by the family
Porpitidae, which took priority over the less-old name Velellidae (the group was subdivided into these two families when still ranked as an order). In modern classifications, the Porpitidae are included in the infraorder Zancleida of the hydrozoan suborder Capitata.
They are believed to have originated in the late Proterozoic
period, some 650-540 million years ago. A rare soft-bodied fossil
that was recovered from the Farmers Member of the Borden Formation
(Mississippian age) in northeastern Kentucky was interpreted as a chondrophorine float.
Hydrozoa
Hydrozoa are a taxonomic class of very small, predatory animals which can be solitary or colonial and which mostly live in saltwater. A few genera within this class live in freshwater...
ns today classified as family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Porpitidae. Though it derives from an outdated name for this lineage (see below), some still find the term "chondrophore" useful as a synonym to "porpitid" in discussions of the three genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
contained therein.
They all live at the surface of the open ocean, and are colonies of carnivorous, free-floating hydroids whose role in the plankton community is similar to that of pelagic jellyfish
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
. The chondrophores look like a single organism
Organism
In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...
but are actually colonial animals
Colony (biology)
In biology, a colony reference to several individual organisms of the same species living closely together, usually for mutual benefit, such as stronger defense or the ability to attack bigger prey. Some insects live only in colonies...
, made up of an orderly cooperative of polyp
Polyp
A polyp in zoology is one of two forms found in the phylum Cnidaria, the other being the medusa. Polyps are approximately cylindrical in shape and elongated at the axis of the body...
s living under a specialized sail-structure.
The most familiar members of the family Porpitidae are the Blue Button (Porpita porpita
Porpita porpita
Porpita porpita, commonly known as the blue button, is a marine organism consisting of a colony of hydroids found in tropical waters from California to the tropical Pacific, the Atlantic and Indian oceans It is often mistaken for a jellyfish, but although jellyfish and the blue buttons are part of...
) and the By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella).
Description
Gas
Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
-filled disc (which is a golden brown colour and hardened by chitin
Chitin
Chitin n is a long-chain polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose, and is found in many places throughout the natural world...
ous material) essential to keeping the colony afloat; others form radiating tentacles for tasks such as catching prey
Predation
In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...
, reproduction, and digestion
Digestion
Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components that are more easily absorbed into a blood stream, for instance. Digestion is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones....
. Microplankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
is a chondrophore's principal prey. Although none have powerful stings, contact with the skin may cause irritation. At the mercy of winds and currents, chondrophores are pelagic
Pelagic zone
Any water in a sea or lake that is not close to the bottom or near to the shore can be said to be in the pelagic zone. The word pelagic comes from the Greek πέλαγος or pélagos, which means "open sea". The pelagic zone can be thought of in terms of an imaginary cylinder or water column that goes...
and drift in the open ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
. They are often seen in large aggregations; mass beachings are not unusual. Chondrophores multiply by releasing tiny (0.3-2.5 millimetres or 0.01-0.09 inches) medusa
Medusa (biology)
In biology, a medusa is a form of cnidarian in which the body is shaped like an umbrella, in contrast with polyps. Medusae vary from bell-shaped to the shape of a thin disk, scarcely convex above and only slightly concave below...
e which go on to develop new colonies.
Velella
Velella
Velella is a genus of free-floating hydrozoans that lives on the surface of the open ocean, worldwide, and is commonly known by the names by-the-wind sailor, purple sail, little sail, or simply Velella...
differs from Porpita by their transparent, membranous sail-shaped floats; filled with gas, the membranes have a texture reminiscent of cellophane
Cellophane
Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria and water makes it useful for food packaging...
. Both genera have turquoise
Turquoise
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue...
to dark blue mantles and tentacles, with lemon-yellow morphs occasionally encountered. Neither group is particularly large: the floats of Velella are usually under 7.6 centimetres (3 inches) in diameter, while those of Porpita are usually less than 3.8 centimetres (1.5 inches).
Systematics
The orderOrder (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Chondrophora was created by A.K. Totton in 1954 to accommodate these three unusual genera of Hydrozoa as their taxonomic affinities were unclear. They had previously been placed either in the Anthomedusae
Anthomedusae
Anthomedusae or Anthomedusa, the athecate hydroids, are an order of the Hydrozoa, a class of marine invertebrates belonging to the phylum Cnidaria...
(also known as Athecata) or the Siphonophora
Siphonophora
Siphonophorae or Siphonophora, the siphonophores, are an order of the Hydrozoa, a class of marine invertebrates belonging to the phylum Cnidaria. They are colonial, but the colonies can superficially resemble jellyfish; although they appear to be a single organism, each specimen is actually a...
, and though many accepted Totton's placement, a considerable number of authors maintained them in the Anthomedusae/Athecata all the time.
By the 1970s/1980s, nearly all Hydrozoan systematists were in agreement that these genera did indeed belong in that group and the order Chondrophora became defunct, replaced by the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Porpitidae, which took priority over the less-old name Velellidae (the group was subdivided into these two families when still ranked as an order). In modern classifications, the Porpitidae are included in the infraorder Zancleida of the hydrozoan suborder Capitata.
They are believed to have originated in the late Proterozoic
Proterozoic
The Proterozoic is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The name Proterozoic comes from the Greek "earlier life"...
period, some 650-540 million years ago. A rare soft-bodied fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
that was recovered from the Farmers Member of the Borden Formation
Borden Formation
The Mississippian Borden Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, West Virginia, and Tennessee. It has many members, which has led some geologists to consider it a group rather than a formation .-Fossils:*Corals: Cornularia sp. , Paracornularia sp...
(Mississippian age) in northeastern Kentucky was interpreted as a chondrophorine float.