__NOTOC__ Lovenellidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

hydrozoans Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; ) are a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial species can be large, and in some cases the specialize ...

. Their

hydroids Hydroids are a life stage for most animals of the class Hydrozoa, small predators related to jellyfish. Some hydroids such as the freshwater '' Hydra'' are solitary, with the polyp attached directly to the substrate. When these produce buds ...

live together in upright stolonal or

sympodial Sympodial growth is a bifurcating branching pattern where one branch develops more strongly than the other, resulting in the stronger branches forming the primary shoot and the weaker branches appearing laterally. A sympodium, also referred to a ...

colonies, and their gonophores are pedunculate free-roaming

medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

e.Schuchert (2005) The relationships of this fairly small but distinctive radiation to other members of the order Leptothecata are not well understood at present.

Description

The elongated, everted- conical to bell-shaped hydrothecae are pedicellate. They have a diaphragm and a conical operculum

apical Apical means "pertaining to an apex". It may refer to: *Apical ancestor, refers to the last common ancestor of an entire group, such as a species (biology) or a clan (anthropology) *Apical (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features loc ...

ly to the hydrothecal wall, formed either by this wall or by separated embayments of the hydrothecal margin, with a lining of triangular plates. The

tentacles In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work mainl ...

of some but not all carry webbing between them. The hydrothecae wear down during the individual hydroids' life, and old ones often have just the collar-like bottom of the hydrotheca remaining. The manubrium of the

e is short. They lack a

gastric The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital organ in the digestive system. The stomach i ...

peduncle,

ocelli A simple eye (sometimes called a pigment pit) refers to a form of eye or an optical arrangement composed of a single lens and without an elaborate retina such as occurs in most vertebrates. In this sense "simple eye" is distinct from a multi-l ...

(making them effectively blind) and excretory pores, and have 4 simple radial canals and in adults at least 16

statocyst The statocyst is a balance sensory receptor present in some aquatic invertebrates, including bivalves, cnidarians, ctenophorans, echinoderms, cephalopods, and crustaceans. A similar structure is also found in '' Xenoturbella''. The statocyst c ...

s. The tentacles at their margin are hollow and at the side carry cirri; cirri are lacking from around the margin however. The gonads are located at the radial canals; they do not reach the manubrium.

Genera

Five genera of Lovenellidae are generally recognized as valid if '' Cirrholovenia'' and '' Eucheilota'' are merged therein, as is widely done these days. '' Hydranthea'' is placed here in some treatments, but otherwise in the family

Haleciidae Haleciidae is a family of hydrozoans. Their hydroid colonies emerge from a creeping hydrorhiza and usually form upright branching colonies, although some species' colonies are stolonal. Their gonophores are typically sporosacs, growing singly ...

; corroborating the relationship between these two hard-to-place families:MarineSpecies.org (2004), Schuchert (2005) * '' Eucheilota'' McCrady, 1859 * '' Hydranthea'' Hincks, 1868 * '' Lovenella'' Hincks, 1868 * '' Mitrocomium'' Haeckel, 1879 (= ''Haleciella'') * '' Paralovenia''

Footnotes

References

* (2004)
Lovenellidae
Version of 2004-DEC-21. Retrieved 2009-APR-10. * (2005)

&ndash

Retrieved 2009-APR-10. Leptothecata Cnidarian families {{Leptothecata-stub