Variaciones morfológicas en Blackfordia virginica (Hydroidomedusae: Blackfordiidae) en lagunas costeras de Chiapas, México / Morphologic variations in Blackfordia virginica (hydroidomedusae: Blackfordiidae) in coastal lagoons of Chiapas, Mexico

ABSTRACT

Blackfordia virginica is an important hydromedusae in the zooplankton of coastal lagoons at Mexico. In order to contribute to their study, morphological variations of these species were analyzed in the system of coastal lagoons of Chiapas, Mexico. A total of 503 jellyfish were studied their sizes varied from 6.1 to 9.9 mm of umbrelar diameter. The number of marginal tentacles varied from 86 to 125. A 67.7% females and 30.2% males were recognized. Only 31 jellyfish (26 females and five males) presented morphological variations of ten different types and affected the number and form of the handles, radial channels and gonads. The size of the jellyfish and the number of tentacles reflected a correlation of 0.74.