Hy`dro*me*du"sa (?), n.; pl. Hydromedusae (#). [NL. See Hydra, and Medusa.] Zool.
Any medusa or jellyfish which is produced by budding from a hydroid. They are called also Craspedota, and naked-eyed medusae.
Such medusae are the reproductive zooids or gonophores, either male or female, of the hydroid from which they arise, whether they become free or remain attached to the hydroid colony. They in turn produce the eggs from which the hydroids are developed. The name is also applied to other similar medusae which are not known to bud from a hydroid colony, and even to some which are known to develop directly from the eggs, but which in structure agree essentially with those produced from hydroids. See Hydroidea, and Gymnoblastea.
© Webster 1913.