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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: clinging jellyfish
Synonyms and Other Names: angled hydromedusa
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: See Gosner (1978) and Meinkoth (1981) for a description of the medusa. A key characteristic of the jellyfish is that the tentacles are sharply bent (angled) at the tips. Polyp stage unknown (Gosner 1978).
Size: 1/2 in. high, 3/4 in. wide
Native Range:
Gosner (1978) lists the distribution as circumboreal along the coast in northern waters, but distribution is localized. Meinkoth (1981) says it is found from Alaska to central California and is common in Puget Sound. Common along Chinese and Japanese coasts (Bakker 1980).
Nonindigenous Occurrences: First found at Woods Hole, Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1894 (Carlton 1985).
Means of Introduction: Ballast water or ship fouling likely from Western Europe (Carlton 1985).
Status: Established. Once a common experimental animal at Woods Hole, but populations have declined since the eelgrass (Zostera marina) blight which began in the 1930s (Gosner 1978).
Impact of Introduction: Unknown.
Remarks:
References
Bakker, C. 1980. On the distribution of Gonionemus vertens a. Agassiz (Hydrozoa, Limnomedusae), a new species in the eelgrass beds of Lake Grevelingen (S.W. Netherlands). Aquatic Ecology 14(3):186-195.
Carlton, J. T. 1985. Transoceanic and interoceanic dispersal of coastal marine organisms: The biology of ballast water. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Ref. 23:313-371.
Gosner, K. L. 1978. A Field Guide to the Atlantic Seashore. The Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA. 329 pp.
Meinkoth, N. A. 1981. The Audubon Field Guide to North American Seashore Creatures. Alfred A. Knopf Inc., New York. 813 pp.
Other Resources:
Author: Pam Fuller
Revision Date: 8/2/2007 Citation for this information:
Pam Fuller. 2009. Gonionemus vertens. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=2376> Revision Date: 8/2/2007
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