Hydras
Hydra
Hydra ( HY-drə) is a genus of small freshwater hydrozoans in the phylum Cnidaria. They are solitary, carnivorous jellyfish-like animals, native to the temperate and tropical regions. The genus was named by Linnaeus in 1758 after the Hydra, the mythical many-headed beast that was defeated by Heracles, as when the animal has a part severed, it will regenerate much like the mythical Hydra's heads. Biologists are especially interested in Hydra because of their regenerative ability; they do not appear to die of old age, or to age at all.
18 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Green Hydra
speciesHydra viridissima
Brown Hydra
speciesHydra oligactis
Common Hydra
speciesHydra vulgaris
Hydra hymanae
speciesHydra hymanae
Hydra hadleyi
speciesHydra hadleyi
Slender Hydra
speciesHydra circumcincta
Hydra oxycnida
speciesHydra oxycnida
Hydra intaba
speciesHydra intaba
Hydra thomseni
speciesHydra thomseni
Hydra umfula
speciesHydra umfula
Hydra canadensis
speciesHydra canadensis
Hydra iheringi
speciesHydra iheringi
Hydra plagiodesmica
speciesHydra plagiodesmica
Hydra sinensis
speciesHydra sinensis
Hydra utahensis
speciesHydra utahensis
Hydra lirosoma
speciesHydra lirosoma
Hydra minima
speciesHydra minima
Hydra rutgersensis
speciesHydra rutgersensis
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Jan Jonston — Naeukeurige beschryving van de natuur der viervoetige dieren (1660)
Jan Jonston · 1660 · p.589
History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1586 · p.731
History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1586 · p.269
Ulyssis Aldrovandi ... serpentum et draconum historiae libri duo
Ambrosini, Bartolommeo · 1640 · p.400
History of Serpents and Dragons
Ulisse Aldrovandi · 1640 · p.398
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol 3 (1683-1694)
Royal Society of London · 1694 · p.723
Illustrated Investigation of the Names and Realities of Plants (Volume 25)
吳其濬 · 1848 · p.39
Garden of Health
Jacob Meydenbach · 1491 · p.548
Ortus sanitatis
1491 · p.550
Garden of Health
1507 · p.447
Garden of Health
1507 · p.435
Sancai Tuhui (Vol. 106)
王圻, 王思義 · 1609 · p.85
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Hydra in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 203710.