Olindiidae is a family of hydrozoans in the order Limnomedusae. They have a polyp phase and a medusa phase. The polyps are generally small (1 mm) and solitary, but a few species are colonial. They have a varying number of tentacles and can reproduce by budding. In the largest species, the medusae can grow to . Centripetal canals may be present or absent and the radial canals are unbranched. The gonads are beside the radial canals, except in Limnocnida, where they are on the manubrium. The fertilised eggs develop into planula larvae which become polyps. These multiply asexually or can bud off medusae. In some species, medusae are only produced when the water temperature exceeds a certain level. Most species are marine, but several can also be found in brackish water and a few, notably Craspedacusta (such as C. sowerbii) and Limnocnida, are found in fresh water.Didžiulis, Viktoras: Craspedacusta sowerbyi. NOBANIS - Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet. Retrieved 22 September 2014.Salonen; Högmander; Langenberg; Mölsä; Sarvala; Tarvainen; and Tiirola (2012). Limnocnida tanganyicae medusae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa): a semiautonomous microcosm in the food web of Lake Tanganyika. Hydrobiologia 690(1): 97-112.
Taxonomy This family is named after its type genus Olindias Muller 1861, but with confusion about the correct spelling, with Olindiadae, Olindiidae, Olindiadidae and Olindiasidae all being used. Haeckel established the family in 1879 as Olindiadae, but his intentions as to the stem of the genus and hence the name of the family are unclear. In 2010, Calder determined that Olindiidae was the correct form.
Genera The World Register of Marine Species lists 15 genera: Aglauropsis Mueller, 1865 Astrohydra Hashimoto, 1981 Calpasoma Fuhrmann, 1939 Craspedacusta Lankester, 1880 Cubaia Mayer, 1894 Eperetmus Bigelow, 1915 Gonionemus A. Agassiz, 1862 Gossea L. Agassiz, 1862 Hexaphilia Gershwin & Zeidler, 2003 Limnocnida Günther, 1893 Maeotias Ostroumoff, 1896 Nauarchus Bigelow, 1912 Olindias Mueller, 1861 Scolionema Kishinouye, 1910 Vallentinia Browne, 1902
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