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Velella velella - By-the-wind-sailor
Belongs to the Cnidaria phylum, like jellyfish and anemones!
It floats on the surface of the ocean in warm and temperate waters, living in colonies and drifting with the wind and ocean currents thanks to its sail (Pires et al., 2018).
Carnivores, By-the-wind-sailors feed mainly on plankton, which they catch thanks to the stinging cnidocysts (harmless to humans) at the end of their tentacles (Helm et al., 2021 ; Bieri et al., 1977 ; Purcell et al., 2012, 2015).
In spring and autumn, By-the-wind-sailors multiply and sometimes wash up on beaches during high winds or storms (Bieri et al., 1977 ; Purcell et al., 2012, 2015 ; Jones et al., 2021).
By-the-wind-sailors washed up on a beach, March 2025.
Personnal photo.
Bibliography / Bibliographie
Bieri, R.: The ecological significance of seasonal occurrence and growth rate of velella (hydrozoa), Publ. SMBL, 24, 63–76, https://doi.org/10.5134/175957, 1977.
Helm, R. R.: Natural history of neustonic animals in the Sargasso Sea: reproduction, predation, and behavior of Glaucus atlanticus, Velella velella, and Janthina spp., Mar. Biodivers., 51, 99, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-021-01233-5, 2021.
Jones, T., Parrish, J., and Burgess, H.: Long-term patterns of mass stranding of the colonial cnidarian Velella velella: influence of environmental forcing, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 662, 69–83, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13644, 2021.
Pires, R., Cordeiro, N., Dubert, J., Marraccini, A., Relvas, P., and Dos Santos, A.: Untangling Velella velella (Cnidaria: Anthoathecatae) transport: a citizen science and oceanographic approach, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 591, 241–251, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12266, 2018.
Purcell, J. E., Clarkin, E., and Doyle, T. K.: Foods of Velella velella (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) in algal rafts and its distribution in Irish seas, Hydrobiologia, 690, 47–55, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1052-x, 2012.
Purcell, J. E., Milisenda, G., Rizzo, A., Carrion, S. A., Zampardi, S., Airoldi, S., Zagami, G., Guglielmo, L., Boero, F., Doyle, T. K., and Piraino, S.: Digestion and predation rates of zooplankton by the pleustonic hydrozoan Velella velella and widespread blooms in 2013 and 2014, J. Plankton Res., 37, 1056–1067, https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbv031, 2015.
April 2025
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