||Hy`dro*me*du"sa (?), n.; pl.
Hydromedusæ (#). [NL. See Hydra, and
Medusa.] (Zoöl.) Any medusa or jellyfish
which is produced by budding from a hydroid. They are called also
Craspedota, and naked-eyed medusæ.
&fist; Such medusæ 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 medusæ
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.