The life cycle of the commensal hydromedusa Eutima sapinhoa n. sp.

Abstract

Eutima sapinhoa n. sp. is a small hydroid, which lives attached by a basal disc to the mantle, foot, gills and labial palps of the bivalve Tivela mactroides (Born, 1778), found on the northern littoral of Sao Paulo State, Brazil. This bivalve, locally known as “sapinhoa”, is used as food by the coastal inhabitants. The hydroid produces a leptomedusa which belongs to the family Eutimidae. The medusa bud develops as a small knob-like protuberance near the base of the polyp and, after 61/2 days, reaches the free-swimming stage in covered preparation dishes containing about 200-ml filtered sea water at a temperature of 20° to 22°C. After 25 days the medusa is 4 mm high, 4-mm in diameter, and possesses 4 radial tentacles —each about 2 to 3 times as long as the bell diameter, 8 marginal vesicles — 2 in each quadrant, and 28 small marginal swellings — 7 in each quadrant. The peduncle is as long as the height of the bell, 4 single long gonads develop on the subumbrella on each radial canal. The nematocysts are small atrichous isorhizae, with capsules averaging 7 μm in length.