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You are viewing an archived site. The Chesapeake Bay Introduced Species Database project ended in 2020 and the database is no longer receiving updates. Learn more…
Image of Clytia kincaidi

Clytia kincaidi

Coelenterates-Hydrozoans

hydroid

The hydrozoan Clytia kincaidi is tiny, predatory marine species whose origin and history remain a mystery. This hydroid has two stages, one stage, the hydra, attaches to seaweeds and wood. The other stage is the reproductive free-living medusa or jellyfish. The species was described in Puget Sound in 1899 and subsequently reported near Vancouver Island and the Caribbean in 1935. Clytia kincaidi was not reported from the Atlantic coast of North America by Fraser in 1944 but was seen in surveys from 1968-1969 in Chesapeake Bay and South Carolina in 1976. We now suspect that it occurs from Chesapeake Bay to the Caribbean but we can’t say for sure how long it has been here or if it is native or introduced, so it remains cryptogenic. Adding more to the mystery is the debate about whether the Atlantic and Pacific populations are the same species or two similar species that are difficult to identify.

Image Credit: null

Description Taxonomy Invasion History Ecology Impacts References

Description

The hydrozooan Clytia kincaidi was described (as Campanularia kincaidi) from Puget Sound, and later reported as (Laomedea kincaidi) from the Caribbean (Leloup 1935). It seems difficult to believe that one species could have such a disjunct distribution in such different climates. Calder notes, in a personal communication '.. its taxonomy is very poorly known, in spite of considerable advances since my 1971 report was done. I consider it a valid species, tho' the whole genus is a difficult one and in need of revision' (Calder 1997).

A medusa may be present, as in most other Clytia spp., but it has not been described, to our knowledge.


Taxonomy

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Animalia Cnidaria Hydozoa Leptomedusae Campanulariidae Clytia

Synonyms

Campanularia kincaidi; Laomedea kincaidi

Invasion History

Chesapeake Bay Status

First Record Population Range Introduction Residency Source Region Native Region Vectors
1968 Established Unknown Cryptogenic Regular Resident Western Atlantic Unknown-Marine Shipping(Ballast Water,Fouling Community)

History of Spread

The hydroid Clytia kincaidi was described from Puget Sound by Nutting in 1899 (Nutting 1899), and subsequently reported from Vancouver Island (Leloup 1935). The first Western Atlantic record was from the islands of Klein Bonaire and Bonaire in the Caribbean (Leloup 1935). ['These hydrothecae correspond perfectly to the description and figure 2, plate IV, given by C. Nutting (1915)'.] Clytia kincaidi was not reported from the Atlantic coast of North America by Fraser (1944).

Clytia kincaidi was first found on the North American Atlantic Coast in Chesapeake Bay by Calder, during field surveys in 1968-1969 (Calder 1971; Calder 1972), and subsequently found to be common in SC (Calder 1976; Calder and Hester 1978). 'I expect its distribution is more or less continuous from the Caribbean to Chesapeake Bay' (Calder 1997).

We consider Clytia kincaidi to be cryptogenic in Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere on the North American Atlantic coast. Calder notes that 'there is no way to know how long it may have been part of the fauna of the Chesapeake' (Calder 1997). If it was introduced to Chesapeake Bay, the Caribbean seems the likeliest source. The taxonomic relationship between Atlantic and Pacific populations appears to be unresolved, though Calder considers the species a valid one (Calder 1997).

Calder found Clytia kincaidi in tributaries of the lower Bay at Hampton Flats, VA, at the mouth of the James River and at Gloucester Point, on the York River (Calder 1971). Thompson, sampling in 1991-1992, found it at one location in the James River, Swash Hole (Thompson 1993). Most fouling studies usually did not identify Campanularidae to species (Abbe 1987; Cory 1967; Humphries et al. 1985), so there are no further definite records of C. kincaidi. Most samples of Clytia from our fouling plates lacked gonophores and could not be identified to species (Calder 1995-1997; Ruiz et al. unpublished data).

History References - Abbe 1987; Calder 1971; Calder 1972; Calder 1976; Calder 1997; Calder and Hester 1978; Cory 1967; Fraser 1944; Humphries et al. 1985; Leloup 1935; Nutting 1899; Ruiz et al. unpublished data; Thompson 1993

Invasion Comments

Vector(s) of Introduction - Ballast water transport of medusae may be possible. Clytia spp.and other campanulariids are known to attach to such fauna as sea turtles, whales, and fishes (Cornelius 1982), so that natural transport cannot be ruled out.

Invasion Status- We have called Clytia kincaidi cryptogenic, because the taxonomic difficulty of the genus may have delayed the recognition of C. kincaidi in the northwest Atlantic, and because of the possibility of natural transport by fauna.

Ecology

Environmental Tolerances

For SurvivalFor Reproduction
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
Temperature (ºC) 10.0 32.0
Salinity (‰) 4.0 34.0
Oxygen
pH
Salinity Range poly-eu

Age and Growth

Male Female
Minimum Adult Size (mm)
Typical Adult Size (mm)
Maximum Adult Size (mm) 3.0 3.0
Maximum Longevity (yrs)
Typical Longevity (yrs

Reproduction

Start Peak End
Reproductive Season
Typical Number of Young
Per Reproductive Event
Sexuality Mode(s)
Mode(s) of Asexual
Reproduction
Fertilization Type(s)
More than One Reproduction
Event per Year
Reproductive Startegy
Egg/Seed Form

Impacts

Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay

Clytia kincaidi is too rare to be a significant fouling organism in the Chesapeake region.


Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay

Clytia kincaidi is common in SC (Calder and Hester 1978), and probably also on other parts of the southeast United States coastline and the Caribbean (Calder 1997). However, its importance as a fouling organism is not known in this region.


Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species

Clytia kincaidi appears to be too rare to have significant effects on Chesapeake Bay biota.


Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species

Clytia kincaidi appears to be too rare to have significant impacts on other cryptogenic or introduced biota.


References

Abbe, George R. (1987) Epifauna, In: Heck, Kenneth L.(Eds.) Ecological studies in the middle reach of Chesapeake Bay- Calvert Cliffs. , Berlin. Pp. 82-91

Calder, Dale R. (1971) Hydroids and hydromedusae of southern Chesapeake Bay., Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Special Papers in Marine Science 1: 1-125

Calder, Dale R. (1972) Phylum Cnidaria, Special Scientific Report, Virginia Institute of Marine Science 65: 97-102

Calder, Dale R. (1976) The zonation of hydroids along salinity gradients in South Carolina estuaries, In: (Eds.) Coelenterate Ecology and Behavior. , New York. Pp. 165-174

Calder, Dale R. (1992) Seasonal cycles of activity and inactivity in some hydroids from Virginia and South Carolina, U.S.A., Canadian Journal of Zoology 68: 442-450

Calder, Dale R. (1997) Introduced hydroids in Chesapeake Bay, email, Zoologische Verhandlingen Leiden :

Calder, Dale R.; Hester, Betty S. (1978) Phylum Cnidaria., In: Zingmark, Richard G.(Eds.) An Annotated Checklist of the Biota of the Coastal Zone of South Carolina. , Columbia. Pp. 87-93

Cornelius, P. F. S, (1982) Hydroids and medusae of the family Campanulariidae recorded from the eastern North Atlantic, with a world synopsis of genera., Bulletin of the British Museum, Natural History (Zoology) 42: 37-148

Cory, Robert L. (1967) Epifauna of the Patuxent River Estuary, Chesapeake Science 8: 71-89

Fraser, C. McLean (1944) Hydroids of the Atlantic Coast of North America, In: (Eds.) . , Toronto. Pp. 1-441

Humphries, Edythe M.; Duedall, Iver W.; Jordan, Stephen J. (1985) Coal-waste blocks as a fouling substrate in estuarine water., In: (Eds.) Energy Wastes in the Ocean. , New York. Pp. 613-649

Leloup, Eugene (1935) Hydraires calyptoblastiques des indes occidentales, Memoires du Musee Royal D'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique 2: 1-73

Nutting, Charles Cleveland (1899) Hydroida from Alaska and Puget Sound., Proceedings of the United States National Museum 21: 741-753

Thompson, Michelle Lynne (1993) Dynamics of an oligohaline, macrofaunal, fouling community., , Williamsburg VA. Pp.


Direct questions and comments to chesnemo@si.edu.

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