What does Velella mean?
1 capitalized : a genus of floating oceanic siphonophores widely distributed in warm seas and closely related to those of the genus Porpita but having an oblique crest which acts as a sail and often causes the animal to be drifted to coasts remote from its native habitat.
How does Velella reproduce?
The velella velella reproduce by asexually budding off pieces of the colony. The pieces that bud off are shaped like little bells and called medusa. They have both male and female parts.
Where are velella velella found?
Velella velella lives in warm and temperate waters in all the world’s oceans. They live at the water/air interface, with the float above the water, and polyps hanging down about a centimetre below.
Does Velella sting Velella?
Besides their sail, a striking feature of Velella is their blue pigmentation. Velella are not dangerous to humans. They can sting and capture small prey, but they also harbor algal symbionts, giving mature specimens and greenish or even brown tint.
Is Velella a colonial?
More recent studies, however, have classified the Velella velella as a highly modified individual hydroid polyp, and not a colonial hydrozoa. Older zoological opinions classified the Velella velella as a Siphonophore, along with the Portuguese man-of-war and other colonial creatures.
Is a Velella a jellyfish?
The genus Velella, known as the By-the-Wind sailor, and Porpita, known as blue-buttons (not to be confused with blue-bottles), are two interesting Hydrozoans (Cnidarians) that live at the surface of the water. These hydroid colonies bud off tiny medusae, little “jellyfish”, just like many benthic hydroids do.
Is Velella Velella poisonous?
Luckily for beach goers, velella velella aren’t poisonous to the touch and won’t sting, but scientists at Oregon State University say to avoid the jellyfish because they carry a mild neurotoxin.
What are the jelly blobs on the beach in Oregon?
Sea Gooseberry
It’s called a Sea Gooseberry (Pleurobrachi bachei) and it shows up fairly often during spring and summer on the beaches. (Above: a sea Gooseberry on the beach at Oceanside). “The Sea Gooseberry is a type of comb jelly which belong to the phylum Ctenophora,” said Seaside Aquarium’s Tiffany Boothe.
What is the Velella sail made of?
chitinous
The sail is made of a somewhat rigid, chitinous material, while the blue-tinged base contains air-filled chambers that allow the animal to float on the water’s surface. Sails are not oriented directly length-wise along the float; instead they are angled either left or right.
Does Velella Velella sting?
Does Velella velella sting?
What kind of marine organism is the Velella?
It is commonly known by the names sea raft, by-the-wind sailor, purple sail, little sail, or simply Velella. This small cnidarian is part of a specialised ocean surface community that includes the better-known cnidarian siphonophore, the Portuguese man o’ war. Specialized predatory gastropod molluscs prey on these cnidarians.
Where does the Velella live on the High Seas?
The begins its life in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is brought by the wind to the shores, and is usually cast up on a beach where it dies and disentegrates. The Velella are most common on the high seas, in the warmer regions of the Southern and Northern Hemispheres.
Is the v.velella nematocyst harmful to humans?
V. velella’ s nematocysts are relatively benign to humans, although each person may respond differently to contact with the nematocyst toxin. It is wise to avoid touching one’s face or eyes after handling V. velella, and itching may develop on parts of the skin that have been exposed to V. velella nematocysts.
What kind of food does the Velella eat?
The Velella velella is a carnivorous hydroid polyp, feeding on small prey and fish that can be caught only immediately below the surface of the water. The Velella is limited to surface food because it is not a very big animal and its tentacles do not reach very far.