The Freshwater Medusa Limnocodium sowerbyi in the Royal Botanic Society's Gardens, Regent's Park

Abstract

IT may be of interest to record the reappearance of the freshwater jellyfish, Limnocodium (Craspedacusta) sowerbyi, in the Victoria Regia tank of the Royal Botanic Society's Gardens, Regent's Park. The medusæ were found by us in large numbers on June 30, and some persisted over the week-end. The specimens are mostly fully grown, with an umbrella diameter up to about 13 mm. They resemble in every way the specimens first described by Allman and Lankester. These remarkable freshwater medusæ were first discovered in Regent's Park in 1880, and are reported to have reappeared there for four or five years; they have apparently not been noticed in the tank in recent years. Since its original discovery in 1880, the jellyfish has, however, been recorded from tanks in botanical gardens in other towns in England, in France, Germany, and the United States.