Abstract
The leptomedusa, Mitrocoma cellularia, ranges from the Bering Sea to southern California and may be found year-round in the surface waters of Monterey Bay, California. These jellies are relatively long-lived, making them ideal hydromedusae for display at public aquaria. While M. cellularia are commonly found in Monterey Bay, it is not always possible to collect them due to foul weather and patchy distribution. To maintain a constant and reliable source of these medusae, a laboratory cultivation protocol was developed and implemented. The described life cycle of M. cellularia remained incomplete, lacking information regarding the benthic hydroid colony and early medusa. This paper reports descriptions for the hydroid colony and early medusa stages of M. cellularia based on specimens grown at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, California, and provides a brief description of the rearing methods used.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank B. Upton, R. Kocevar, E. Seidel, K. Raskoff, C.J. Slager, G.I. Matsumoto and R. Hamilton for reviewing early drafts of this manuscript. I would also like to thank my family, A. Pereyra, P. Seekoei, T. Duncan, Teams Drifters and Jellies Living Art, J. Hoesch, J. Welsch, P. Pringle, J.R. Sosky, J. DeMartini, G. Brusca, Theta Epsilon, T. Hardy, M. Faulkner and D. Hutchinson for much-needed help during this project. I am also indebted to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, for laboratory space, boat time and materials. Finally I would like to thank the animals in this study that taught me so much; I will be forever grateful. The experiments conducted in this study comply with the current laws of the USA in which the experiments were performed.
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Communicated by P.W. Sammarco, Chauvin
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Widmer, C.L. The hydroid and early medusa stages of Mitrocoma cellularia (Hydrozoa, Mitrocomidae). Marine Biology 145, 315–321 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1322-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1322-x