The Hydrozoa: a new classification in the light of old knowledge

The Hydrozoa, on the basis of embryological, developmental and morphological features, are considered as a superclass of the phylum Cnidaria comprising three classes: the Automedusa (with the subclasses: Actinulidae, Narcomedusae and Trachymedusae), characterised by direct development of the planula into a medusa; the Hydroidomedusa (with the subclasses: Anthomedusae, Laingiomedusae, Leptomedusae, Limnomedusae, and Siphonophorae), characterised by a polyp stage budding medusae through a medusary nodule; and the Polypodiozoa, with complex endocellular parasitic life cycles

Heterochrony, generic distinction and phylogeny in the family Hydractiniidae (Hydrozoa, Cnidaria)

The taxonomy of Hydractinia, Stylactaria and Podocoryna is discussed and the three genera are merged into Hydractinia since their diagnostic characters are liable to lead to polyphyly and paraphyly, due to repeated episodes of medusa reduction via heterochrony (paedomorphosis). The phylogeny of the Hydractiniidae is reconstructed by using two outgroups, Clava and Cytaeis, both having some characters in common with the Hydractiniidae. The resulting phylogenetic trees agree in identifying affinities among Hydractinia, Kinetocodium and Hydrocorella, all with polymorphic colonies with gastrozooids having oral tentacles. The position of Clavactinia (characterized by gastrozooids with widely scattered tentacles) is at the root of the tree if Clava is the outgroup, whereas it becomes apical when the outgroup is Cytaeis. The pattern of medusa suppression is different in the two cladograms, since the presence of a medusa is a plesiomorphic feature when Cytaeis is the outgroup, whereas it becomes apomorphic when the outgroup is Clava. These inconveniences are difficult to accommodate, since medusa suppression has occurred many times in the evolution of the hydroidomedusae, and Recent species do not witness past paedomorphic events of medusa reduction properly, so that many intermediate states are probably missing

Etude des Solanderiidae de la Baie de Hansa (Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée) avec une révision du genre <i>Solanderia</i> (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa)

The morphology of the skeleton of the various species of the genus Solandria was studied by scanning electron microscopy. This allowed the listing of synonymies, and the number of valid species was reduced from 13 to 6. Keys and a comparison table have been established for species identification

Photosynthetic planulae and planktonic hydroids: contrasting strategies of propagule survival

Settlement delays can be important to prevent propagule waste when proper settling substrates are not immediately available. Under laboratory conditions, the planulae of Clytia viridicans underwent two alternative developmental patterns. Some settled on the bottom, forming a hydranth-gonotheca complex that produced up to four medusae and later either degenerated or gave rise to a hydroid colony. Other planulae settled right below the air-water interface, forming floating colonies that eventually fell to the bottom and settled. Halecium nanum released planulae with a rich population of symbiotic zooxanthellae that survived into a rearing jar for three months. After a long period of apparent quiescence (possibly fuelled by photosynthetic activities of zooxanthellae) the planulae produced new colonies. Both photosynthetic planulae and settlement at the interface air-water allow a delay in the passage from a planktonic to a fully functional benthic life

Are JCT Analyses of Tax Change Proposals Useful to Individual Taxpayers?

This article examines whether taxpayers may rely on Joint Committee of Taxation (JCT) studies to assess how a proposed tax change will impact their circumstances by evaluating the impact of a proposed tax law change to broaden the individual income tax base and lower individual income tax rates by performing a microeconomic analysis on their explicit tax burdens before and after the proposed change in tax law. Our results indicate that JCT studies do not fully reveal the impact of proposed tax law changes on individual explicit tax burdens. Finally, we provide a simple methodology to determine the distributional impact of tax proposals on individuals using publically available information

Trends in hydroidomedusan research from 1911 to 1997

The papers on hydroidomedusae published from 1911 to 1997 total 10,934. They have been assigned to the following categories: faunistics and systematics; sub-organismal biology; ecology; evolution; life cycles; paleontology. The general trend, comprising all papers, can be divided into four time intervals: the first (1911-1939) with an average of sixty papers/year and with a slight decrease due to First World War; the second one (1940-1947), with an average of 38 papers/year, marked by a dramatic decrease coinciding with Second World War; the period 1948-1991 shows a steady increase until the mid-Seventies, when a small decrease occurred, followed by an increasing trend reaching its apex in the late Eighties-early Ninenties with a record of 296 papers in 1991 and with an average of 175 papers/year; the period 1992 1997, with an average of 178 papers/year, is marked by a sharp decrease, reaching the values of the mid Sixties. The most important category in terms of number of papers is sub-organismal biology, followed by faunistics and systematics. Systematic studies dictated the trend in the first decades of the century, whereas sub-organismal ones are prevalent from the Sixties onwards. Faunistic and systematic-taxonomic papers have a steady trend of production, with just a slight decrease over these last years. The formerly leading countries in systematics (UK, USA, France) are now almost inactive in this discipline, whereas countries with little or no tradition in this field (such as Spain) are taking the leadership

Temporal variability and spatial dynamics of CO2 and CH4 concentrations and fluxes in the Zambezi River system

Spanning over 2900 km in length and with a catchment of approximately 1.4 million km2, the Zambezi River is the fourth largest river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from the African continent. Yet, there is surprisingly little or no information on carbon (C) cycling in this large river system. As part of a broader study on the riverine biogeochemistry in the Zambezi River basin, we present here mainstream dissolved CO2 and CH4 data collected during 2012 and 2013 over two climatic seasons (dry and wet) to constrain the interannual variability, seasonality and spatial heterogeneity of partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and CH4 concentrations and fluxes along the aquatic continuum, in relation to physico-chemical parameters (temperature, conductivity, oxygen, and pH) and various carbon pools (dissolved and particulate, organic and inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, primary production, respiration and net aquatic metabolism). Both pCO2 and CH4 variability was high, ranging from minimal values of 150 ppm and 7 nM, respectively, mainly in the two large reservoirs (the Kariba and the Cabora Bassa characterized by high pH and oxygen and low DOC), up to maximum values of 12,500 ppm and 12,130 nM, CO2 and CH4, respectively, mostly below floodplains/wetlands (low pH and oxygen levels, high DOC and POC concentrations). The interannual variability was relatively large for both CO2 and CH4 (mean pCO2: 2350 ppm in 2013 vs. 3180 ppm in 2013; mean CH4: 600 nM in 2012 vs. 1000 nM in 2013) and significantly higher (up to two fold) during wet season compared to dry season closely linked to distinct seasonal hydrological characteristics. Overall, no clear pattern was observed along the longitudinal gradient as river CO2 and CH4 concentrations are largely influenced by the presence of floodplains/wetlands, anthropogenic reservoirs or natural barriers (waterfalls/ rapids). Following closely the concentration patterns, river CO2 and CH4 mean fluxes of 3440 mg C-CO2 m-2 d-1 and 50 mg C-CH4 m-2 d-1, respectively, were well within the range of literature data for tropical river systems, while the two reservoirs were a sink of atmospheric CO2 (-240 mg C-CO2 m-2 d-1) and a low CH4 source (4 mg C-CH4 m-2 d-1)

Tracing carbon assimilation in endosymbiotic deep-sea hydrothermal vent mytilid fatty acids by ¹³C-fingerprinting

Bathymodiolus azoricus mussels thrive at Mid-Atlantic Ridge hydrothermal vents, where part oftheir energy requirements are met via an endosymbiotic association with chemolithotrophic and methanotrophic bacteria. In an effort to describe phenotypic characteristics of the two bacterial endosymbionts and to assesstheir ability to assimilate CO2, CH4 and multi-carbon compounds, we performed experiments in aquaria using 13C-labeled NaHCO3 (in the presence of H2S), CH4 or amino-acids and traced the incorporation of 13C into total and phospholipid fatty acids (tFA and PLFA, respectively). 14:0; 15:0; 16:0; 16:1(n - 7)c+t; 18:1(n - 13)c+t and (n - 7)c+t; 20:1(n - 7); 20:2(n - 9,15); 18:3(n - 7) and (n - 5,10,13) PLFA were labeled in the presence of H13CO3- (+H2S) and 13CH4, while the 12:0 compound became labeled only in the presence ofH13CO3- (+H2S). In contrast, the 17:0; 18:0; 16:1(n - 9); 16:1(n - 8) and (n - 6); 18:1(n - 8); and 18:2(n - 7) PLFA were only labeled in the presence of 13CH4. Some of these symbiont-specific fatty acids also appeared to be labeled in mussel gill tFA when incubated with 13C-enriched amino acids, and so were mussel-specific fatty acids such as 22:2(n - 7,15). Our results provide experimental evidence for the potential of specific fatty acid markers to distinguish between the two endosymbiotic bacteria, shedding new light on C1 and multi-carbon compound metabolic pathways in B. azoricus and its symbionts

Approaches to the ethology of hydroids and medusae (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa)

The behavioural patterns of 26 species of Antho- and Leptomedusae (with or without medusa stage) were investigated by video recordings. The analysed activities were: answers to mechanical stimuli, prey capture and ingestion, digestion, egestion, and swimming. The quantity of behavioural patterns identified in the small number of hydrozoan diversity studied so far is sufficient to demonstrate that these supposedly "simple" animals have evolved a complex array of responses to both external and internal stimuli