Leptolinae

__NOTOC__Taxobox
name = Leptolinae

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image_width = 200px
image_caption = Siphonophorae from Ernst Haeckel's 1904 "Kunstformen der Natur"
regnum = Animalia
subregnum = Eumetazoa
phylum = Cnidaria
subphylum = Medusozoa
classis = Hydrozoa
subclassis = Leptolinae
subclassis_authority = Haeckel, 1879
subdivision_ranks = Orders
subdivision =
Anthomedusae

Leptomedusae

Siphonophorae

synonyms =
Hydroida
Hydroidae
Hydroidolina Marques & Collins, 2004
Hydroidolinae Marques & Collins, 2004
Hydroidomedusa
Hydroidomedusae
Leptolina Haeckel, 1879

Leptolinae (or Leptolina) are a cnidarian subclass of the Hydrozoa. They contain the bulk of the paraphyletic "Hydroida" which were one of the main groupings of the Hydrozoa in older classifications and were placed at order rank. They also include, however, the highly advanced colonial jellies of the Siphonophora, which were not included in the "Hydroida".Schuchert (2005)]

=Systematics=

Some sources (e,g, ITIS use the younger alternate names Hydroidolina or Hydroidomedusa for Leptolina(e).

SUBCLASS LEPTOLINAE
* Order Anthomedusae - includes Laingoimedusae but monophyly requires verification
** Suborder Capitata
** Suborder Filifera
* Order Leptomedusae
** Suborder Conica
** Suborder Proboscidoidea
* Order Siphonophorae
** Suborder Calycophorae
** Suborder Cystonectae
** Suborder Physonectae

Other classifications

Other hydrozoan classifications, which are beset by paraphyly however, are also often seen. They do not unite the Leptolinae in a monophyletic taxon and thus do not have any merit according to modern understanding of hydrozoan phylogeny.

The traditional 19th-century system had the Leptominae dispersed among the following taxa:
* Order Anthoathecatae
* Order Laingiomedusae
* Order Siphonophora
* Suborders Anthomedusae and Leptomedusae of order Hydroida

A very old classification that is sometimes still seen had them in:
* Order Hydroida
* Order Siphonophorida
* Order Stylasterina

The system used by Animal Diversity Web uses:
* Order Capitata
* Order Filifera
* Order Hydroida
* Order Siphonophora

Catalogue of Life uses:
* Order Anthoathecata
* Order Hydroida
* Order Laingiomedusae
* Order Leptothecata
* Order Siphonophora

Footnotes

References

* (2005): [http://www.ville-ge.ch/mhng/hydrozoa/hydrozoa-directory.htm The Hydrozoa Directory] - [http://www.ville-ge.ch/mhng/hydrozoa/intro/phylogeny.htm Hydrozoan Phylogeny and Classification] . Retrieved 2008-JUL-08.