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New World Technologies

2020 and Beyond

Errol S. van Engelen

New World Technologies: 2020 and Beyond

Copyright © Business Expert Press, LLC, 2019.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any
other except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior permission of the
publisher.

First published in 2019 by

Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-94897-686-2 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-94897-687-9 (e-book)

Business Expert Press Big Data and Business Analytics Collection

Collection ISSN: 2333-6749 (print)

Collection ISSN: 2333-6757 (electronic)

Cover and interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd.,

Chennai, India

First edition: 2019

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America.

Abstract

In today’s high-pressured world, digital transformation is everywhere on the agendas of

corporate boards and has risen to the top of CEOs’ strategic plans. Artificial intelligence,
blockchain, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, and drones are some of the emerging
technologies that are already transforming our world. In this fast changing domain—predicted
by few and now reality for all—how can companies transform today’s challenges into tomorrow’s
opportunities?
This book is targeted to help a broad audience such as students, professionals, business and
technology managers to transform an old-world brick and mortar organization to a new-world
digital leader. The author addresses various questions including: What essential components
does digital transformation include, and how does it impact the enterprise?
How does convergence of emerging technologies benefit your organization? How can you start
transformation and technology planning projects?

Keywords
3D printing; artificial intelligence; augmented and virtual reality; blockchain; digital
transformation; drones; emerging technologies; Internet of Things; robotics; technology
planning
Preface

This book is for everyone in Business and Technology, interested in Digital Transformation
and Emerging Technologies

When I started writing this book, many different ideas crossed my mind. On one hand, it’s
obvious that technology makes our life a lot easier and therefore has a positive impact on society
and business. On the other hand, certain technologies outsmart humanity and threaten our
survival as the leaders on the planet, scary, but also a feasible scenario. No one can say right now
with total certainty what’s going to happen within the next 30 or 40 years.
But let’s look at technology in a positive way though. You may have heard this phrase about fast
pacing technology “There have been more changes in technology in the past two years than the
previous fifty years.” While it’s clear that changes in our business models don’t have the same
speed. For this reason, it’s necessary to select new technology very carefully to stay in line with
your slower changing business models.
Many managers are wondering how to deal with the overload of technologies and are afraid to
select the wrong technology to improve their business. Since they own the technology budgets,
they need to be sure that the money will be spent wisely. But unfortunately sometimes they
overlook difficulties in selecting new technology.
In general, large enterprises are well positioned to adopt innovative, new technologies, and
jump into this brave new world. The ecosystems around them such as vendors and partners are
more than willing to support. And even with tight budgets, large companies have sufficient
funding and resources for projects. Whereas small and medium businesses normally don’t have
sufficient resources to hire external experts to advise on the right technologies. So they are going
to try it themselves. And that can lead to disappointment, because they may lack the required
knowledge.

Layout of the Content

I have focused on the most impacting new technologies. The technology area is so big that it’s
fairly impossible to mention them all. That’s why the technologies you will find here are very
likely to have a big impact on business and society. When deciding “what technologies to write
about,” I felt most inspired by the “Eight Essential Technologies” published by
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
I’ve structured the content in four chapters:
Chapter 1 is a holistic view of digital transformation which is causing many disruptions both in
business and technology. Big data is at the core of this transformation process, while emerging
technologies specialize in specific areas.
In Chapter 2, I focus on connectivity technologies in which I include blockchain, Internet of
Things, augmented and virtual reality. These technologies can be powered by big data, converge
with each other and have impact in various industries.
In Chapter 3, I focus on intelligence technologies in which I include 3D printing, artificial
intelligence, drones and robotics. Again, these technologies can be powered by big data,
converge with one another and have impact in various industries.
Chapter 4 is about digital transformation planning, which helps to reduce complexity when
starting or enhancing a digital transformation project. The approach I find most useful is a mix
of methodologies such as SOSTAC® and Business Model Canvas.
Acknowledgments

I want to thank everyone who helped in the creation of my book. In technology projects, many in
the role of client, employer, or colleague helped me directly or indirectly to obtain the proper
image of the impact technology has on business. I would also thank the many online experts and
content publishers who increased my knowledge of technology.
I hope you enjoy reading while improving your business and technology skills and knowledge
with New World Technologies World: 2020 And Beyond.

Errol S. van Engelen

Rotterdam, January 2019
CHAPTER 1
Digital Transformation

Over the past several years, the term “digital transformation” has entered the realm of
enterprise IT. Digital transformation is frequently misinterpreted and misunderstood. What
does “digital transformation” really mean? What essential components does it include, and how
does it impact the enterprise? Figure 1.1 illustrates that digital transformation should be
regarded as business transformation.
The Global Center for Digital Business Transformation says that “organizational change is the
foundation of digital business transformation.” That’s because changing the nature of an
organization means changing the way people work, challenging their mindsets and the daily
work processes and strategies that they rely upon. While these present the most difficult
problems, they also yield the most worthwhile rewards, allowing a business to become more
efficient, data-driven, and nimble, taking advantage of more business opportunities.
In my opinion, there are three essential components for businesses going through digital
transformation efforts.

Figure 1.1 Digital transformation is business transformation

Engagement
Through content marketing, you can educate your customers about topics important to them
and eventually your business offerings. It gives your brand a voice to engage with your target
audience and establish a strong, trustworthy relationship with them. Setting up real good
engagement with your audience is not as simple as it may look like. Sure, one of the main
reasons for brilliant content creation is ultimately to create leads and increase revenue. But it
shouldn’t come across that way. No one likes being pressurized into buying something without
having the time to research or think about it first. Instead of trying to sell to your audience, try
to help them. Your customer will be coming to you because they are looking for a product that
you provide. So, producing content that answers their questions surrounding that product will
build trust and leave a lasting impression.

Exposure
Going viral on social media is what every business wants to do. All the attention and all the
respect can take your business to the next level. The problem is doing it. I’m a regular follower of
social media and I’ve experimented with different strategies to garner more interactions. This is
how you can improve exposure and reach:

• More content is better than less, but too much content is not the name of the game
• Client engagement is your goal, drive traffic to the best-converting pages
• Connect with your customers—let them speak to their needs and drive trust and reach for
your brand by leveraging their experiences as part of your Social Media and Content strategy
• Identify opportunities to repurpose your existing content to drive active visitor and
audience participation

Technology
Without implementing the right technologies, it would be fairly impossible to successfully
migrate from a traditional business to a digital company. The most important technologies to
use are marketing automation, big data, and business intelligence. Big data empowers other
emerging technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things, augmented and virtual reality, 3D
printing, artificial intelligence, drones and robotics.
Many of the discussions surrounding digital transformation have focused on the technology:
mobile applications, cloud platforms, artificial intelligence, big data, and so on. However, having
the technological foundation to support such innovations is only one piece of the digital
transformation puzzle.
To fully embrace this growing trend and reap all the benefits it offers, corporations need to make
a major change to their company culture. Digital transformation is about more than just
adopting new technologies: It’s about reinventing your business to be driven by data—and that
starts with your team.

Think Business Transformation, Not Technology

In the business world, everyone is talking about digital transformation—from AI to robots to the
Internet of Things. But according to many top experts in the field, most people are missing the
point.
Technology doesn’t provide value to a business. Instead, technology’s value comes from doing
business differently because technology makes it possible. I would like to refer to George
Westerman’s MIT Sloan Management Review article, “Your Company Doesn’t Need a Digital
Strategy.” Creating a digital strategy can focus the organization in ways that don’t capture the
true value of digital transformation. Westerman, who is a Principal Research Scientist with the
MIT Sloan Initiative on the Digital Economy, suggests that the right focus is on a better strategy
that is enabled by digital.

Focus on Strategic Transformation, Not Technology Adoption

According to Westerman, technology helps you do business differently, but the right strategy is
not technology-focused. It incorporates the right technologies for the right jobs. Regardless of
your industry, Westerman suggests keeping these four points in mind to avoid common pitfalls.
Get Away from Silo Thinking
Focusing on the technology can direct aspirations toward what technology can do (mobile, big
data, virtual reality, and so on) rather than what a transformed business should look like. For
example, a mobile strategy comes to a screeching halt when the company fails to consider
opportunities that are not enabled by mobile. This kind of incremental thinking misses much
bigger opportunities across silos.

Don’t Push the Envelope Too Far, Too Fast

Looking too far forward toward advanced digital innovations can make other technologies seem
mundane. However, business leaders leave easy money on the table if they ignore incremental
steps and pursue risky opportunities that may not be ready to pay off yet.

Don’t Ask Your Tech Leaders to Drive Transformation Alone

Even the best IT leaders won’t be able to transform a business if they don’t run that part of the
business. “While I’ve seen many successful digital transformations led by great tech leaders, the
transformation comes from working with them, not asking them to do it alone,” writes
Westerman.

Build Essential Leadership Capabilities, Not Just Technical Ones

Think of digital transformation not as a project but as a capability. When you focus on
transformation instead of digital, you shift the weight to creating real business value from
technological innovations.

Digital Maturity Matters in Every Industry

Digital maturity (see Figure 1.2) is a combination of two separate but related dimensions. The
first, digital intensity, is investment in technology-enabled initiatives to change how the company
operates—its customer engagements, internal operations, and even business models. Companies
in all industries are investing in interesting digital initiatives. However, in many firms, these
investments are uncoordinated and sometimes duplicative. Firms maturing in the second
dimension, transformation management intensity, are creating the leadership capabilities necessary to
drive digital transformation in the organization. Transformation intensity consists of the vision
to shape a new future, governance, and engagement to steer the course, and IT and business
relationships to implement technology-based change.
Figure 1.2 Digital maturity matrix

Source: Capgemini consulting and MIT center for digital business, 2012

Beginners
Pharmaceuticals: Executives see threat in digital transformation but less opportunity than other
industries do, perhaps because of regulation. Many are building capabilities in analytics and
worker enablement, but most firms are just beginning their digital journeys, leaving many
opportunities untapped.
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG): Digital opens new possibilities for firms to engage directly
with customers. Twenty-four percent of firms surveyed stand out as digital masters, while others
lag far behind. Generally, less-mature CPG firms can improve through stronger visions, greater
digital investments and more robust transformation management.
Manufacturing: Traditionally slow to react to digital, manufacturing is on the cusp of emerging
from “beginner” status. Efforts in digital remain focused on operational efficiencies and worker
enablement, but the B2B nature of many companies may limit their attention to digital
customer engagement. Manufacturers see less opportunity and threat in digital transformation
than other industries. To mature, firms may need a transformative digital vision, plus the
engagement and governance to develop impetus for digital investments.

Conservatives
Insurance: High expectations for digital and strong vision and governance suggest that the
insurers should be leading the digital revolution. Yet, this is not the case for most firms.
Generally, scores for engaging customers through social media and mobile are lower than
average, suggesting that the combination of strong digital governance capabilities, regulatory
worries, and a risk-averse culture would not be an innovation enabler.
Utilities: For the conservative utilities industry, efficiency is the name of the game in digital
transformation. Constant pressure to reduce costs and the advent of smart metering create
digital opportunities in customer experience, worker enablement, analytics and process
improvement.

Fashionistas
Telecom: Facing ever-increasing levels of connectivity and data consumption, telecom firms
have been quick to respond. Of the organizations in our study, 78 percent are high on digital
intensity (Digital Masters or Fashionistas) and Beginners are almost nonexistent. To
complement their digital strengths, telecom firms can focus on stronger digital leadership to
integrate and align initiatives across silos.
Travel and hospitality: Since the advent of the Web, digital has turned the industry upside down.
The industry has responded, with 81 percent of firms in the Digital Masters or Fashionista
quadrants and no Beginners. Opportunities exist to improve worker enablement in many
companies. To make the jump into Digital Masters territory, Fashionistas will need to build
levels of excellence in transformation management to match their high digital intensity,
including a transformational vision for the future.

Digital Masters
Banking: Digital is revolutionizing the relationship between customers and retail banks, who
have responded with strong capabilities in customer service, analytics, and even social media.
Banks have an opportunity to parlay these successes into new innovations in mobile or social
customer engagement and internal knowledge sharing. In addition, opportunities exist to
integrate initiatives and processes across corporate silos.
Retail: A decade-long history with digital disruption has seasoned retailers and produced a
number of digirati (26 percent of firms surveyed). Retailers are generally confident in the
potential for social and mobile, as well as their digital skill set. Moving forward, firms may want
to focus on cross-channel consistency and worker enablement while building analytics
capabilities.
High-Tech: For high-tech, digital is close to home. Firms generally enjoy well-developed
capabilities and high digital maturity. They are also—not surprisingly—enthusiastic about
digital’s potential. This momentum may create further opportunities in mobile and embedded
devices.

Do We Have Time to Wait?

Executives in industries such as CPG, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing might be tempted to
believe they do not yet need to engage in digital transformation. Their industries are less
digitally mature than others, so they might have time to wait. However, every industry,
regardless of how digitally mature, hosts companies that are Digital Masters. In other words,
every industry—from manufacturing to high technology—has firms that have already begun to
gain the benefits of digital transformation. This should be a call to action for executives in every
firm. It takes several years to build maturity, especially in the transformation management
intensity dimension. Digital Beginners in any industry are several years from gaining the digital
maturity that their Digital Master competitors already possess.

Why Culture Is Key in Digital Transformation

Digital transformation changes the DNA of an organization. It breaks down the silos, rinses
existing processes, and makes sure the business is leaner, faster, agile, and more responsive
than ever before.
However, too often, business leaders forget that for such a transformation to be successful, it
needs to be backed by a corresponding cultural shift. “For any transformation to be successful,
people need to buy into your vision,” according to Aashish Gupta, Research Analyst at Gartner.
He added:

The culture aspect and the technology demand equal attention from the application leader,
because culture will form the backbone of all change initiatives for their digital business
transformation. The staff trapped in a ‘fixed’ mindset may slow down or, worse, derail the
digital business transformation initiatives of the company,
In order to drive that cultural change, businesses need to invest in it. An online clothes and shoe
retailer, Gartner cites, instructs all of its new hires to experience its call center. This, the
company believes, allows employees to gain a holistic view of the business and helps them
understand why customer service is the backbone of it.
If you’re looking for a plan to drive the cultural change, here’s a four-step plan recommended by
Gartner:

• Create a compelling vision: Your vision should be able to inspire and motivate desire for
change. Craft it carefully, share it with stakeholders, and ensure that everyone is on the same
page as you are—seeking and pursuing growth. “A growth mindset demands people to be
comfortable with the speed of the digital era, and they must be willing to make quick and risky
bets instead of slow and safe bets,” said Gupta.
• Define: “What gets measured, gets managed,” said management guru Peter Drucker. When
you’re pursuing a mindset change, similarly, you need to ensure your staff knows what
behavioral attributes reflect the change and the individual key performance indicators (KPIs)
or goals that must be targeted.
• Implement: To make the concrete changes and give employees a strong sense of direction,
the human resources (HR) function must update individual job descriptions. Doing so involves
a lot of extra effort but can help make a profound impact because it adds stability to how
change is introduced, facilitated, and managed. “Acceptance will happen only if the change is
visible throughout the organization. You should incentivize people to share knowledge or learn
new skills,” said Gupta.
• Measure, monitor, and wait: Inspiring a change in your employees’ mindset isn’t going to
be quick but it’s going to reap significant dividends in the long run. Gartner advises business
leaders to allow some time for changes to percolate and to continuously survey employees
about how they understand and perceive the change. “Be patient. Fostering a growth mindset
culture that requires behavior changes among your staff takes time. However, the rewards are
considerable as everyone perseveres, learns, grows and accepts that potential is nurtured, not
predetermined,” explained Gupta.

How to Accelerate Digital Transformation

Our world is changing fast. Customers’ expectations for better and innovative experiences have
been growing. This has forced businesses to transform themselves and rethink their service
delivery to meet these demands. However, this transformation process needs to be fast.
Organizations and their leaders need to keep up with the pace at which the world is evolving if
they want to sustain their position in the market and grow.
So, how can the C-level management accelerate their organization’s digital transformation to
meet the ever-growing customer demands?
 • Focus on business and technology planning: As a digital leader, it is crucial that you
start with an end goal or a business outcome in mind. Market leaders don’t jump at every
technology that crosses their path. On the contrary, they start with business outcomes in mind
and work backward to choose the technologies that fit their goals and which will help them
deliver an experience that is smarter and better.
• Invest in your organization’s people and culture: It is essential for organizations to
invest in its people and enable them to participate in your digital transformation. Finding
people with the right attitude, investing in their training and development, and designing
programs that recognize and reward employee’s contributions to customer experience go a
long way in retaining talent as well as creating an organizational culture that embraces change
on an ongoing basis.
• Keep your customer at the center of your business: It is critical for organizations to
design their processes in a way that boosts customer experience and retention. Adopt modern
technologies in concurrence with evolving buying trends that provide your customers with
unique capabilities that save time in their day, add value to their business, and deliver services
when and how they want to receive them.
• Simplify and modernize IT: Digital transformation leaders should focus on simplifying
and modernizing their IT environments by adopting digital differentiators such as cloud-based
systems, predictive intelligence capabilities, social and mobile enablers and DevOps practices
to design leaner and more agile business processes.
• Look for continuous improvement: Successful transformation leaders are those that are
continuously exploring the ways they can improve their organization’s processes to deliver
superior customer experiences on an ongoing basis. Establish a set of key performance
indicators that demonstrate the health of your digital business and keep raising the bar.

Digital innovation is changing the world faster than we can imagine. The only way that
organizations can keep up with this speed is by thinking outside in, outlining key business
outcomes, and working backward to adopt agile methodologies and right mix of technology,
which will ultimately help them secure their market share and stay ahead of the curve.

Key Components for Digital Success

Engagement
Customers are increasingly empowered and businesses that do not provide a fast, multichannel
experience will start to lose these customers. For this to happen “consistent, tangible feedback
around the customer’s perceptions, motivations and expectations” is needed, and for the results
for such surveys to be meaningfully analyzed. One of the core instruments to improve customer
engagement is content marketing.

Content Marketing
Content marketing is a successful digital marketing strategy that can reach consumers and
spread brand awareness. More than half of businesses spend time and money on content
marketing, a number that will grow as more companies recognize its utility.
Most businesses publish a variety of content frequently, but many still want to make
improvements to their content, such as creating more original and visual content.
Visual content, such as videos, images, and infographics, engages consumers and keeps their
interest piqued for the whole post. Visual content stands out among other text-rich blog posts.
It’s always nice to break up text with visuals because we’re all such visual learners. Our attention
spans keep decreasing, so visuals keep a reader’s attention. It breaks up the monotony and leads
the consumer through the content pieces. Consumers are more likely to read and stay engaged
with your content if it is visual.

Exposure
Having a strong social media presence can help your business in several ways. Social media
platforms of the business act as multiple gateways to a business’s website, creating an external
linking structure and more opportunities to appear in search results. Social media creates a way
to increase brand awareness and customer base. Any company has the ability to connect with
customers in diverse ways while also driving traffic to their website to generate conversions. So
let’s see how you can maximize your social media presence.

Social Media
Social media marketing remains the lynchpin of all other inbound marketing strategies,
including e-mail marketing and content marketing. Creating a social media presence for your
business can open up new growth opportunities by expanding your brand’s exposure and
affinity. Every business should have established objectives before tinkering with their social
media presence. Set goals early and monitor them constantly. Simply having a Facebook
account is meaningless if you don’t create value for your customers.

Build Relationships, Not Traffic

Brand advocacy means your customers market and promote your products for you, which is not
only cost efficient, but also more believable than what your employees say about your own
company. Growing your audience and building relationships with industry thought leaders will
position your brand to become a leading voice and an influencer. Before acquiring this status,
it’s key to partner with influencers early on who will endorse and market your brand for you.
This can be accomplished through sponsorship, engaging with them directly, and sharing their
content.
Social media is also the ultimate user-review resource, so it’s important to immediately respond
to any feedback or criticism to mitigate any negative exposure. Through strong social
engagement you can be proactive, rather than reactive, in curating a positive social media
presence. Once you’ve established your brand’s identity and built trust with your customers,
drop a highly relevant promotion or offer directly in front of them to drive sales.

Provide Value
Share content, self-produced or not, that provides utility for your customers. This could even
include a funny meme or a how-to guide from an industry publication. You’re essentially
establishing your own syndicated content platform. Encourage your customers to turn to you for
news and information. Provide value that will entice users to engage with your brand in the first
place.
As an added bonus, the content you share will provide valuable backlinks for your website and
help improve its search engine rankings. This will align perfectly with your multichannel
marketing campaign. Your highest shared and compounding posts could also be featured on
your website and in a company e-newsletter.

Interactive and Seasonal Content

Seek audience engagement by providing interactive content with value. Interactive content, such
as quizzes, contests, and giveaways, is a great choice to entice user clicks and consumer brand
engagement. This will promote a positive branded experience. One of the best forms of
interactive content is hosting an event that draws people to your physical offline location. In
addition to sharing your blog posts, you could simply ask your followers a provocative or
interesting question that encourages debate and discussion. You could host Q&As or live
streams that encourage users to post questions to the feed.

Analytics
Finally, assess how well your social media strategy is aligning with your bottom line. Actively
track KPIs, such as the amount of referral traffic generated from social media channels and the
social signals each piece of content is acquiring. There are many analytics tools your business
could use, such as Hootsuite and Buffer.
If you have Google Analytics activated on your website, you can insert a tracking code that will
track the amount of times somebody shares a blog post from your website. The important thing
to remember is patience.

Final Thoughts
Social media is a community platform, not a marketplace for your brand. The focus of any
inbound marketing strategy is to pull customers closer to you and this requires consistent
engagement and value-added content. Align your content marketing strategies with your social
media outreach to retain customers and create demand for your products. In an interconnected
world, brand affinity remains the most effective weapon in a business’s arsenal to separate itself
from the crowd.

Technology
Too many organizations are stuck in an “old school” seven-year cycle of technology
implementation that is susceptible to budget overruns, delays, and major capital outlay without
benefit. As a result, boards lose faith in technology departments, and are less open to trying
again. In fact, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are less likely to lead innovation across the
business than their global counterparts (18 percent versus 26 percent) and are more likely to
take a secondary role in driving transformation.
It is clear that while technology is a driver and enabler of transformation, it is not the answer in
its own right. Successful technology transformation in today’s fast-paced world requires a fresh
approach—one which is about the business model and people—not just technology.

Marketing Automation
Media and marketing are inevitably linked. With the extensive number of media platforms
available to consumers and marketers and the wide reach of those digital platforms, marketers
are now looking at the scale and volume of marketing operations that offer personalized
customer experiences. Marketing automation can power campaigns, help identify leads,
influence a buyer’s decision, and so much more.
The global marketing automation software market is anticipated to grow up to a compounded
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.26 percent by 2022. The market has generated a revenue of
$3.86 billion in 2016 and is anticipated to reach up to $7.63 billion by 2025. Marketing
automation categories make up a significant subset of marketing technology. All of these areas
of marketing have been impacted by predictive analytics, machine learning and AI, and higher
personalization of content.

Big Data
The power of predictive analytics and advanced data science is the reason behind the
implementation of future strategies and immediate changes in the global businesses today. Big
data and analytics are entangled with each other today to deliver best end-results unlikely
following the traditional approach. Earlier, analytics and data management used to be two
different sections under one enterprise. With the emergence of advanced data science, such
organizational barriers are broken. The integration of business operations with information
technology has brought about successful enterprise transformation.
The need for better business analytics has also arisen for business transformation. BI (business
intelligence), with its skills and technological efficiency, continues to explore and investigate on
past business performances to gain insights and deploy business planning. The integration of
big data with traditional business analytics helps in creating a data ecosystem that enables
businesses to generate new insights.

Engage Your Audience with Great Content

Creating business content is complex. It has to satisfy various needs such as raising awareness,
driving traffic, generating leads, and ultimately converting customers. Content as shown
in Figure 1.3 is often aimed at specific niche audiences of buyers and hence it doesn’t get widely
shared.

Figure 1.3 Engage your audience with great content

However, there are some types of content that engage large business audiences. I have reviewed
the most engaging business content published this year and identified 10 key content types that
work well to drive B2B engagement.
Here’s a summary of the top 10 most engaging forms of B2B content:

• Technology developments: Industries can be destroyed and created by technological

change, and quickly. Whether it is online banking, artificial intelligence, driverless cars or big
data, business audiences eagerly consume content on technology change in their industry.
 • Future trends: These trends may be related to technology developments, but they cover a
wider range of trends such as customer engagement, regulation, cultural change, and political
developments.
• Opinion or viewpoint posts: There is no shortage of viewpoints about business
developments from ethical and moral perspectives to how to grow a business. Controversial or
challenging viewpoints frequently provoke engagement. The views of successful business
leaders such as Jeff Bezos also gain high engagement.
• Inspirational stories and case studies: Story formats are an increasingly powerful form
of business content, particularly data-driven stories and inspirational stories.
• Practical tips and how to posts: Business audiences want to do their job better and
actively look for practical content that may help them improve their performance.
• Personal career advice: Most people want to advance their career and they actively seek
out and share good career advice.
• Research and reference content: Knowledge can become obsolete very quickly, and new
research findings help business audiences to understand changes. Reference content is closely
related to practical and “how to” content; it is helpful and a source of support.
• Leadership: Aspirational staff aspire to be leaders and good leaders want to improve.
There is a thirst for content on leadership from practical tips to case studies and reflections by
current and former CEOs.
• Industry news: We all have to keep up with the latest developments in our industry and
sectors. Thus there is always interest in company news and significant market developments.
• In vogue topics or brands: Every year and in every industry there are celebrity brands and
topics. These are the in vogue topics people actively discuss in meetings and coffee shops—
sometimes in a good way, sometimes not. Recent celebrity brands have included Uber, Apple,
and Tesla. Recent celebrity topics have included big data and artificial intelligence.
• Last but not least, LinkedIn Pulse articles: If you want to gain more attention on
LinkedIn, then you need to be publishing on Pulse. Nineteen of the top 20 most shared articles
on LinkedIn this year were published on the platform itself.

Boost Your Brand Using Social Media

The world of social networks is rising at an astonishing pace. According to some recent studies,
the number of social media users will rise up to 2.62 billion by the end of 2018. So, what do
these figures tell you? To put yourself on the radar of your customers, deliver a personalized
approach, and improve your conversion rate, you need to create a solid digital marketing
campaign.
However, boosting your brand awareness via social networks is not just about creating accounts
on all platforms available, inviting random people to like your page, and sharing a few posts
every once in a while. It’s about marketing and creating engagement to the right people, through
the right channels. Good engagement with your audience is made possible by the use of social
media, as shown in Figure 1.4.
Here are several social media marketing tips that will take your branding efforts to a whole new
level.
Figure 1.4 Social media to create social engagement

Choose the Right Social Networks

Choosing where to focus your social networking energy may be a daunting task. You need to
keep in mind that not all social media platforms will work the same way in helping you reach
your goals. Precisely because of this, you need to be picky and make educated decisions. There is
a plethora of questions you need to ask yourself, most important of which are:

• What are the social networks your customers use?

• How popular is a certain social networking channel?
• Does this channel make sense for your brand?
• How can it improve your brand awareness?

Share Engaging Content

Content marketing is an inseparable and most valuable aspect of your social media campaign.
Only by delivering relevant, easily digestible, and shareable content will you establish yourself as
an expert in your niche. However, improving the performance of your content on social
networks requires more than writing good-old articles. You need to focus on an interactive and
engaging visual content, as well. Use infographics, photos, videos, memes, gifs, and quote
graphs to hook your followers’ attention and keep them interested in the content you share.

Be Unique and Consistent

To engage people with your brand, you need to deliver recognizable content people will instantly
relate to your brand. Such an approach will help you build trust among your target audience and
put an emphasis on your brand’s mission statement, goals, and core values.
Here are a few strategies that will set your brand apart from its competitors.
Find Your Tone of Voice
To make the most of the content you create, you need to define your tone of voice. Gather a
representative sample of the posts you’ve shared so far and cast a critical eye on it. Are your
posts trustworthy, quirky, or action-oriented? See what tone suits your brand the best and stick
to it in your future content creation efforts.

Schedule Your Posts

To let your target audience know what to expect from you, you should stick to your content
distribution calendar and share your posts regularly. Instead of managing your posts manually,
you should make this process simpler by using social media management tools. They will help
you sync your social networking profiles, find fresh content, and schedule hundreds of social
media posts at once.

Answer and Acknowledge

One of the most powerful ways to earn your customers’ respect is to provide them with an
instant feedback. To stay on top of your communication with your customers, you should use
social media monitoring tools. With their help, you will be able to monitor your target
audience’s discussions and participate in them in real time. When doing so, you need to obey the
following rules of social networking:

1. React and respond to all questions in a timely manner (consider implementing chatbots).
2. Be polite and professional.
3. If you were wrong about something, apologize.

Use Social Proof

Why do we stay loyal to famous brands like Coca-Cola, Apple, or Starbucks? The fact that there
are millions of people around the globe using their products lends an air of authority,
trustworthiness, and quality. That’s called social proof and, to integrate it with your social media
campaign effectively, you need to:

1. Share your users’ testimonials.

2. Inspire your customers to rate and review your products and services.
3. Seek for influencer endorsements.
4. Show appreciation for mentions.
5. Share your business’ milestones, such as reaching a certain number of customers.

Offer a Rewards Program

When done right, customer loyalty programs are immensely powerful customer retention
boosters. As the holiday season is here, you should incentivize your followers for being loyal to
your brand, as well as for sending feedback, making referrals, or sharing your posts. And, social
networks are a perfect place for you to do so.

Turning Big Data into Business Insights

No matter how vast your big data sources are, if your company does not devise the right
methods for garnering meaningful insights from it, the data is of no avail.
The entry of big data has revolutionized the way businesses work. However, till today, a large
number of decision makers are confused on how to extract the right insights from big data. This
is mainly because businesses embark on this journey without checking if they have all the
parameters in place. Majority of big data projects are implemented after insight expiry or with
defective strategies. Before tackling a voluminous amount of data, it is crucial that businesses
formulate an apt big data initiative to suit their needs. I think that the following five ways are
common to successful businesses and are an effective guide for turning big data into big
insights, as shown in Figure 1.5.

Figure 1.5 Turning big data into big insights

Enhance Speed and Delivery

Speed is a key factor for productive action. For successful execution from insights, you need to
act quickly. If you spend a long time discussing and analyzing big data in the hope of acquiring
near perfect insights, all your efforts will end up fruitless. When it comes to big data analytics, it
is crucial to focus on quick decisions and execution. Today, successful companies like Amazon
and Microsoft have one thing in common—they make their decisions from 70 percent of
relevant data available. If they, too, would wait for perfect information for perfect insights, their
outputs and revenue streams would face the threat of paralysis.

Determine What’s Actionable

Before you start extracting insights from big data, you need to have a clear understanding of the
things you want to achieve from it. Differentiate between the strong areas of your business and
those that need reconsideration. Before diving in for answers, it is important to have the right
set of questions for big data analytics. Address those questions first that you know are bound to
lead to economic opportunities and are practically actionable. It is easy to get distracted by the
vast availability of big data. Thus, narrow your approach to core business problems. Set
achievable parameters; otherwise, you will risk the loss of manpower and valuable resources.
Assemble a “Smart” Team
The next step is to assemble a team of skilled professionals. Actionable insights can only be
garnered from big data effectively with the assistance of intelligent humans. There needs to be a
presence of creative personnel who can formulate new ideas, develop technological strategies,
and produce efficient implementation. Look for individuals who have fair knowledge in the
fields of AI, machine learning, big data analytics, and automated support systems.

Understand Customer Needs

How will you extract insights from big data if you don’t have an idea of your customer needs and
your business requirements? Before going into insights, you need to focus on gaining qualitative
customer insights. Thus, businesses must consider the challenges their audience is facing. This
means interacting with people who use your product or service, recording their responses, and
channeling those responses to spark your product or service.

Focus on the Right Sourcing

While a company’s main aim is to build insights from a range of data sources, it is crucial to
focus on the types of data sources that will aid in the progress. The perfect dataset doesn’t exist.
Start with analyzing data from a data mart. Most businesses are confused when it comes to the
difference between a data mart and a data warehouse. A data warehouse is obviously an
essential asset in any company, but a small and selective data mart produces quicker insights
and prevents you from getting mired in complexity. Over time, you can then broaden your
horizon and focus on additional data sets.

Integrating Marketing Automation and Customer Relationship Management

(CRM)
There are so many leads, prospects, and customers from so many channels in the digitally
connected world that you may need both a CRM and marketing automation software to
adequately manage all of them. CRM and marketing automation are different processes with different
purposes and utilize distinct tools. The confusion usually arises because both CRM and marketing
automation typically deal with the same information (contacts, lists, profiles, etc.) and similarly
work with leads. Figure 1.6 shows that marketing and sales alignment creates more effective
commerce, and involves integrating marketing automation and CRM.
Figure 1.6 Integrating marketing automation and CRM

Main Differences Between CRM and Marketing Automation

Type of Users
Marketing automation platforms are used by marketers while CRM programs are utilized by
sales people. Both offer automation, analytics, and reporting features to streamline daily tasks
and provide users with important metrics and insights on the progress, efficiency, and
effectiveness of marketing campaigns as well as sales activities and efforts.

Key Function
The primary function of marketing automation is to generate leads from marketing campaigns. A lead can
be an individual or business that expresses interest in your product or services and may come as
a result of referral or through direct response to your campaigns such as promotion, publicity, or
advertising.
On the other hand, CRM assists the sales team to nurture those leads from information collected in the
contact or lead database. Sales people use CRM to analyze the information gathered, categorize and
qualify contacts, and follow through with offers or discounts and other similar campaigns, all
aimed at transforming leads in to buying customers. CRM is also used for retaining existing
customers.

Goal
Marketing automation is designed to help generate marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) to be
handed over to sales. Meanwhile, CRM’s goal is to convert MQLs to sales-qualified leads (SQLs)
and ultimately to sales. Although the respective goals are different as you can see where one
ends and the other begins in the sales funnel, marketing automation and CRM have
complimentary roles in the effort to transform leads into customers.
Role in the Buyer’s Journey
Marketing automation is to create awareness of your products and services while CRM is to set
up or prepare for purchase. They are separate roles but at the same time complementary,
unifying the two funnels that make up the buyer’s journey.

Features of CRM
CRM software is the main platform of your sales team and sales agents to improve their productivity and
enhance customer interaction with the end goal of closing sales. For this purpose, CRM software
brings with it features and capabilities such as the following:

• Contact management organizes your contacts by categories for easy sorting or retrieval.
For all intents and purposes, this feature is sufficient for a small business to undertake a CRM
program like e-mail campaigns or classifying customers based on their records.
• Sales automation is the main component of CRM software automates the sales process
from prospecting to customer inquiry and sending out replies to order taking.
• Communication channels gives you the capability to connect, respond, and interact with
customers and prospects from various channels including e-mail, phone, instant messaging
(IM) or live chat, social media, and forums.
• Task/workflow management lets you efficiently manage activities and schedules, and
come up with a contact plan.

The great thing is that CRM integration features allow it to work with most marketing
automation platforms, giving your sales team access to customer information collated by your
marketing them. Likewise, marketing automation integration means the software can connect
with CRM tools and make available relevant information from the marketing end.

Features of Marketing Automation

Marketing automation software helps the marketing team generate leads and manage contacts.
The software is equipped with these features:
• Lead management: This helps you generate, onboard, nurture, and automate leads. It
comes with tools to track and analyze a lead’s activities such as website visits, e-mail opens,
completing forms on your website, or reading your blogs.
• E-mail marketing: This allows you to compile a contact list from various sources and
channels, and send targeted messages, onboard customers, and share both informative as well
as promotional content.
• Market segmentation: The system can automatically classify and assign the lead to a
marketing segment based on information gathered from your lead’s activities and interactions.
With analytics, marketers get to know which leads are likely to be converted into customers.
• A/B testing: This essential marketing automation software features enable you to use
advanced e-mail segmentation to test the effectiveness of different campaigns, compare results,
and to optimize and determine the best approach for your marketing strategies.

To Conclude
CRM and marketing automation differs in purpose, users, and uses. It is, however, not a choice
between two systems since each plays an important role in your business—driving productivity
and efficiency of your sales team and marketing team, and ensuring the effectiveness of your
marketing campaigns and sales efforts.

Emerging Technologies Powered by Big Data

The Essential Eight Emerging Technologies as illustrated in Figure 1.7 by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC)
will influence business models and the competitive landscape for years to come. And one thing’s
clear: emerging technology is no longer the realm of IT alone. Business leaders need to begin
learning and thinking about how to harness their potential.

Figure 1.7 The essential eight technologies by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC)

Source: PwC, “How can boards tackle the essential eight and other emerging technologies?,”
June 2017 © 2018 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership

Blockchain
A blockchain is a distributed electronic database or, more broadly, an electronic ledger that uses
software algorithms to record and confirm transactions with reliability and anonymity. The
record of events is shared between many parties and information once entered cannot be
altered, as the downstream chain reinforces upstream transactions.

Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of physical objects—devices, vehicles, appliances—
embedded with sensors, software, network connectivity, and computer capability enabling them
to collect, exchange, and act on data, usually without human intervention. The Industrial IoT
(IIoT) refers to its use in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, or Industry 4.0. IIoT adds
sensors to people, places, processes, and products across a value chain to capture and analyze
information to advance the goals of the organization.

Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR) is a visual and/or audio “overlay” on the physical world that uses
contextualized digital information to augment the viewer’s real-world view. AR-enabled
smartglasses help warehouse workers fulfill orders with precision, airline manufacturers
assemble planes, and electrical workers make repairs.

Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) is an example of creative destruction. In a computer-generated simulation of
a three dimensional image or environment viewers can use special equipment to interact with
the simulation in realistic ways. However, VR has the potential to transform many other
industries as well, especially in the realm of experiential training where workers can be thrown
into hazardous, difficult, or cost-prohibitive situations without the intense risks associated with
these activities in the real world.

3D Printing
3D printing creates three-dimensional objects based on digital models by layering or “printing”
successive layers of materials. 3D printing has the potential to turn every large enterprise, small
business, and living room into a factory.

Artificial Intelligence
Software algorithms are automating complex decision-making tasks to mimic the human
thought processes and senses. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a monolithic technology. A
subset of AI, machine learning, focuses on the development of computer programs that can
teach themselves to learn, understand, reason, plan, and act when blasted with data. Machine
learning carries enormous potential for the creation of meaningful products and services.

Drones
Drones vary greatly in their capacity based on their design. Some drones need wide spaces to
take off while quadcopters can squeeze into a column of space. Some drones are water-based;
some can operate and navigate autonomously (via remote control) or fully autonomously (via
onboard computers). In June 2016, the US Federal Aviation Administration cleared a path for
commercial drone use, establishing safe-use rules that include airspace, speed, pilot
certification, and other guidelines for operators.

Robotics
Robots are machines with enhanced sensing, control, and intelligence used to automate,
augment, or assist human activities. The robot market, which has grown quite large for
industrial applications, is poised for radical growth in a broad range of services applications.
These applications are transforming manufacturing and nonmanufacturing operations with new
capabilities that address the challenges of working in changing, uncertain, and uncontrolled
environments, such as alongside humans without being a danger to them.

Summary
Over the past several years, the term “digital transformation” has entered the realm of
enterprise IT. Digital transformation is frequently misinterpreted and misunderstood.
What does “digital transformation” really mean? What essential components does it include,
and how does it impact the enterprise?
In the business world, everyone is talking about digital transformation—from AI to robots to the
IoT. But according to many top experts in the field, most people are missing the point.
Technology alone doesn’t provide value to a business. Instead, technology’s value comes from
doing business differently because technology makes it possible.
Since technology is changing fast, it would be wise to develop a twelve-month roadmap. The
reasons for developing such a roadmap are not self-evident. Certainly technology is important,
but why must the business meticulously plan out their strategy for a year into the future,
especially if the environment is working just fine as it is? The truth is that there are many
reasons to draft your roadmap, and some of these reasons will be more or less relevant to
different businesses depending on their industry.
Digital maturity is a combination of two separate but related dimensions. The first, digital intensity,
is investment in technology-enabled initiatives to change how the company operates—its
customer engagements, internal operations, and even business models. Firms maturing in the
second dimension, transformation management intensity, are creating the leadership capabilities
necessary to drive digital transformation in the organization.
Digital transformation changes the DNA of an organization. It breaks down the silos, rinses
existing processes, and makes sure the business is leaner, faster, agile, and more responsive
than ever before. However, business leaders forget that for such a transformation to be
successful, it needs to be backed by a corresponding cultural shift. Culture will form the
backbone of all change initiatives.
Creating business content is complex. It has to satisfy various needs such as raising awareness,
driving traffic, generating leads, and ultimately converting customers. Content is often aimed at
specific niche audiences of buyers and hence it doesn’t get widely shared.
However, there are some types of content that engage large business audiences. I have reviewed
the most engaging business content published this year and identified 10 key content types that
work well to drive B2B engagement.
The world of social networks is rising at an astonishing pace. To put yourself on the radar of
your customers, deliver a personalized approach, and improve your conversion rate, you need to
create a solid digital marketing campaign.
Customers’ expectations for better and innovative experiences have been growing. This has
forced businesses to transform themselves and rethink their service delivery to meet these
demands. However, this transformation process needs to be fast. Organizations and their
leaders need to keep up with the pace at which the world is evolving if they want to sustain their
position in the market and grow. Digital innovation is changing the world faster than we can
imagine.
Having a strong social media presence can help your business in several ways. Social media
platforms of a business act as multiple gateways to a business’s website, creating an external
linking structure and more opportunities to appear in search results. Social media creates a way
to increase brand awareness and customer base. Customers are increasingly empowered and
businesses that do not provide a fast, multichannel experience will start to lose these customers.
For this to happen “consistent, tangible feedback around the customer’s perceptions,
motivations and expectations” is needed. Without the right technologies, it would be fairly
impossible to successfully migrate from a traditional business to a digital company. The most
important technologies to use are marketing automation, big data, and business intelligence. Big
data powers other emerging technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things, augmented and
virtual reality, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, drones, and robotics.

Homework Assignment
For students: consider a brick and mortar banking company that delivers products and services
to the business-to-business (B2B) market.
For professionals: consider the company you’re working for or have been working for.
Your VP of business development wants to transform the company to a digital leader. As a C-
level business manager with more than average interest in everything digital, you are asked by
the VP of business development to conduct a research study, which will lead to a digital
transformation strategy. Include exposure, engagement, and technology. Add opportunities to
unlock new business values and increase competitive advantages.
You can do this exercise alone. However, for best results, consider forming a team with two
colleagues with a business background and two with a technology background. You or someone
else can take up the role of facilitator. The other team members will do their questions and
answers. At the end of the session, the facilitator will wrap up the results.
The initial tasks are involving:

• Set up a digital transformation strategy

• Digital transformation feasibility and business case
• Digital transformation security and privacy challenges
• The competitive advantages you will accomplish by digital transformation

The homework assignment to be conducted is to draft a short report (4–8 pages), which
addresses the following questions and topics:

• Develop a description, definition, and strategy of digital transformation.

• Define exposure, engagement, and technology as key components for digital success.
• When you consider using big data:
• Define what data needs to be collected for your bank.
• What data analytics are needed?
• What actions should be needed based on the results from analytics?
• Find a list of top digital transformation platform vendors and their solutions (find at least
10 vendors).
• Align your strategy with the company’s business strategy.
• Inspire your VP of business development to take the next step, which would be a digital
transformation session.
CHAPTER 2
Connectivity Technologies

Blockchain

Introduction
Blockchain technology, illustrated in Figure 2.1, is an algorithm and distributed data structure
designed to manage electronic cash without any central administration. The original blockchain
was invented in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto to support Bitcoin, the first large-scale peer-to-peer
cryptocurrency, completely free of government and institutions. Blockchain is a distributed
ledger technology (DLT). Most DLTs have emerged in Bitcoin’s wake.
The central problem in electronic cash is double spend. If electronic money is just data, nothing
physically stops a currency holder trying to spend it twice. It was long thought that a digital
reserve was needed to oversee and catch double spends, but Nakamoto rejected all financial
regulation, and designed an electronic cash without any umpire. Each attempted spend is
broadcast to a community, which in effect votes on the order in which transactions occur. Once
a majority agrees that all transactions seen in the recent past are unique, they are
cryptographically sealed into a block.

Figure 2.1 Blockchain technology

A Bitcoin balance is managed with an electronic wallet, which protects the account holder’s
private key. Blockchain uses conventional public key cryptography to digitally sign each
transaction with the sender’s private key and direct it to a recipient’s public key. The only way to
move Bitcoin is via the private key: lose or destroy your wallet, and your balance will remain
frozen in the ledger, never to be spent again.
The Blockchain’s network of thousands of nodes is needed to reach consensus on the order of
ledger entries. The order of entries is the only thing agreed upon by the blockchain protocol, for
that is enough to rule out double spends. The integrity of the blockchain requires many
participants. One of the cleverest parts of the BTC blockchain is its incentive for participating in
the expensive consensus-building process. Every time a new block is accepted, the system
randomly rewards one participant with a bounty.

Benefits and Drawbacks

This isn’t an exhaustive list of blockchain technology’s benefits and drawbacks, however it’s a
good starting point.

Benefits
• Resilience: Rather than using one centralized database,
a blockchain approach uses multiple copies of that same database, spread across as many
computers as desired.
• Unalterable: The term “Blockchain” refers to how the data is arranged in batches—called
blocks—that are chained together as follows: a digital fingerprint is taken from each block.
Each successive block uses the previous block’s fingerprint as an input to the generation of the
current block’s fingerprint. As such, if any transaction in any of the preceding blocks is
changed, it affects not only that block’s fingerprint, but all successive blocks’ fingerprints.
• Reduces sensitive information: Usernames and passwords are used in many traditional databases.
When you log in, you have to provide your password. A malicious third party can access your
account if it intercepts your password. A blockchain database doesn’t require a password.
Instead, it requires a one-time use code that’s mathematically tied to your password and the
specific transaction you’re authorizing. Even if that code is intercepted, it’s useless to the third
party.
• Efficient: A network can verify a transaction nearly instantly with a blockchain approach, as
opposed to a traditional, centralized approach. The traditional approach often includes layers
of security and, in some cases, manual review of transactions before they’re approved. With a
blockchain approach, security is still important, but it’s perhaps less arduous than with a
traditional database.

Drawbacks
• Underpowered network: The phrase “safety in numbers” applies to blockchain technology. A
blockchain database with a small number of computers could easily be compromised by
malicious actors, simply by being outpowered.
• Bugs in the protocol: An improperly written blockchain protocol—much like a website with
improper security—can potentially be exploited, undermining the system.
• Compromised protocol: Consider how the blockchain protocol is deployed to the network’s
computers. Each computer plays by the same rules, but if the deployment of those rules is
centralized, a hacker could rewrite those rules if he gains access to the computer that deploys
those rules.
• Lost or stolen private keys: Much like losing your bank account password, losing your private
key to your account in a blockchain database means you’re no longer the only person who
controls that account. Anyone using the network who has private keys should ensure those
keys are kept safe.

Market Size and Growth

The worldwide blockchain technology market is forecast to reach $7.74 billion by 2024, with the
financial services sector accounting for the majority of the future market growth, according to a
report of Grand View Research, a San Francisco based market research and forecasting
Another random document with
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definitely ascertained. It may be an assumption that time will prove to
be unwarranted that all the Leptomedusae pass through a
Calyptoblastic hydrosome stage.

Fam. Aequoreidae.—In this family the hydrosome stage is not

known except in the genus Polycanna, in which it resembles a
Campanulariid. The sense-organs of the Medusae are statocysts.
The radial canals are very numerous, and the genital glands are in
the form of ropes of cells extending along the whole of their oral
surfaces. Aequorea is a fairly common genus, with a flattened
umbrella and a very rudimentary manubrium, which may attain a size
of 40 mm. in diameter.

Fam. Thaumantiidae.—The Medusae of this family are

distinguished from the Aequoreidae by having marginal ocelli in
place of statocysts. The hydrosome of Thaumantias alone is known,
and this is very similar to an Obelia.

Fam. Cannotidae.—The hydrosome is quite unknown. The

Medusae are ocellate, but the radial canals, instead of being
undivided, as in the Thaumantiidae, are four in number, and very
much ramified before reaching the ring canal. The tentacles are very
numerous. In the genus Polyorchis, from the Pacific coast of North
America, the four radial canals give rise to numerous lateral short
blind branches, and have therefore a remarkable pinnate
appearance.

Fam. Sertulariidae.—In this family the hydrothecae are sessile, and

arranged bilaterally on the stem and branches. The general form of
the colony is pinnate, the branches being usually on opposite sides
of the main stem. The gonophores are adelocodonic. Sertularia
forms more or less arborescent colonies, springing from a creeping
stolon attached to stones and shells. There are many species,
several of which are very common upon the British coast. Many
specimens are torn from their attachments by storms or by the trawls
of fishermen and cast up on the sand or beach with other zoophytes.
The popular name for one of the commonest species (S. abietina) is
the "sea-fir." The genus has a wide geographical and bathymetrical
range. Another common British species frequently thrown up by the
tide in great quantities is Hydrallmania falcata. It has slender spirally-
twisted stems and branches, and the hydrothecae are arranged
unilaterally.

The genus Grammaria, sometimes placed in a separate family, is

distinguished from Sertularia by several characters. The stem and
branches are composed of a number of tubes which are
considerably compressed. The genus is confined to the southern
seas.

Fam. Plumulariidae.—The hydrothecae are sessile, and arranged

in a single row on the stem and branches. Nematophores are always
present. Gonophores adelocodonic. This family is the largest and
most widely distributed of all the families of the Hydrozoa. Nutting
calculates that it contains more than one-fourth of all the Hydroids of
the world. Over 300 species have been described, and more than
half of these are found in the West Indian and Australian regions.
Representatives of the family occur in abundance in depths down to
300 fathoms, and not unfrequently to 500 fathoms. Only a few
species have occasionally been found in depths of over 1000
fathoms.

The presence of nematophores may be taken as the most

characteristic feature of the family, but similar structures are also
found in some species belonging to other families (p. 277).

The family is divided into two groups of genera, the Eleutheroplea

and the Statoplea. In the former the nematophores are mounted on
a slender pedicel, which admits of more or less movement, and in
the latter the nematophores are sessile. The genera Plumularia and
Antennularia belong to the Eleutheroplea. The former is a very large
genus, with several common British species, distinguished by the
terminal branches being pinnately disposed, and the latter,
represented by A. antennina and A. ramosa on the British coast, is
distinguished by the terminal branches being arranged in verticils.

The two most important genera of the Statoplea are Aglaophenia

and Cladocarpus. The former is represented by a few species in
European waters, the latter is only found in American waters.

Fam. Hydroceratinidae.—The colony consists of a mass of

entwined hydrorhiza, with a skeleton in the form of anastomosing
chitinous tubes. Hydrothecae scattered, tubular, and sessile.
Nematophores present. Gonophores probably adelocodonic.

This family was constituted for a remarkable hydroid, Clathrozoon

wilsoni, described by W. B. Spencer from Victoria.[317] The zooids
are sessile, and spring from more than one of the numerous
anastomosing tubes of the stem and branches. The whole of the
surface is studded with an enormous number of small and very
simple dactylozooids, protected by tubular nematophores. Only a
few specimens have hitherto been obtained, the largest being 10
inches in height by 4 inches in width. In general appearance it has
some resemblance to a dark coloured fan-shaped Gorgonia.

Fam. Campanulariidae.—The hydrothecae in this family are

pedunculate, and the gonophores adelocodonic.

In the cosmopolitan genus Campanularia the stem is monosiphonic,

and the hydrothecae bell-shaped. Several species of this genus are
very common in the rock pools of our coast between tide marks.
Halecium is characterised by the rudimentary character of its
hydrothecae, which are incapable of receiving the zooids even in
their maximum condition of retraction. The genus Lafoea is
remarkable for the development of a large number of tightly packed
gonothecae on the hydrorhiza, each of which contains a blastostyle,
bearing a single gonophore and, in the female, a single ovum. This
group of gonothecae was regarded as a distinct genus of Hydroids,
and was named Coppinia.[318] Lafoea dumosa with gonothecae of
the type described as Coppinia arcta occurs on the British coast.

Perisiphonia is an interesting genus from deep water off the Azores,

Australia, and New Zealand, with a stem composed of many distinct
tubes.

The genus Zygophylax, from 500 fathoms off the Cape Verde, is of
considerable interest in having a nematophore on each side of the
hydrotheca. According to Quelch it should be placed in a distinct
family.

Ophiodes has long and very active defensive zooids, protected by

nematophores. It is found in the Laminarian zone on the English
coast.

Fam. Eucopidae.—The hydrosome stage of this family is very

similar to that of the Campanulariidae, but the gonophores are free-
swimming Medusae of the Leptomedusan type.

One of the best-known genera is Obelia, of which several species

are among the commonest Hydroids of the British coast.

Clytia johnstoni is also a very common Hydroid, growing on red

algae or leaves of the weed Zostera. It consists of a number of
upright, simple, or slightly branched stems springing from a creeping
hydrorhiza. When liberated the Medusae are globular in form, with
four radial canals and four marginal tentacles, but this Medusa, like
many others of the order, undergoes considerable changes in form
before it reaches the sexually mature stage.

Phialidium temporarium is one of the commonest Medusae of our

coast, and sometimes occurs in shoals. It seems probable that it is
the Medusa of Clytia johnstoni.[319] By some authors the jelly-fish
known as Epenthesis is also believed to be the Medusa of a Clytia.

Fam. Dendrograptidae.—This family includes a number of fossils

which have certain distinct affinities with the Calyptoblastea. In
Dictyonema, common in the Ordovician rocks of Norway, but also
found in the Palaeozoic rocks of North America and elsewhere, the
fossil forms fan-shaped colonies of delicate filaments, united by
many transverse commissures, and in well-preserved specimens the
terminal branches bear well-marked uniserial hydrothecae. In some
species thecae of a different character, which have been interpreted
to be gonothecae and nematophores respectively, are found.

Other genera are Dendrograptus, Thamnograptus, and several

others from Silurian strata.

Order V. Graptolitoidea.
A large number of fossils, usually called Graptolites, occurring in
Palaeozoic strata, are generally regarded as the skeletal remains of
an ancient group of Hydrozoa.

In the simpler forms the fossil consists of a delicate straight rod

bearing on one side a series of small cups. It is suggested that the
cups contained hydroid zooids, and should therefore be regarded as
the equivalent of the hydrothecae, and that the axis represents the
axis of the colony or of a branch of the Calyptoblastea. In some of
the forms with two rows of cups on the axis (Diplograptus), however,
it has been shown that the cups are absent from a considerable
portion of one end of the axis, and that the axes of several radially
arranged individuals are fused together and united to a central
circular plate. Moreover, there is found in many specimens a series
of vesicles, a little larger in size than the cups, attached to the plate
and arranged in a circle at the base of the axes. These vesicles are
called the gonothecae.
The discovery of the central plate and of the so-called gonothecae
suggests that the usual comparison of a Graptolite with a Sertularian
Hydroid is erroneous, and that the colony or individual, when alive,
was a more or less radially symmetrical floating form, like a Medusa,
of which only the distal appendages (possibly tentacles) are
commonly preserved as fossils.

The evidence that the Graptolites were Hydrozoa is in reality very

slight, but the proof of their relationship to any other phylum of the
animal kingdom does not exist.[320] It is therefore convenient to
consider them in this place, and to regard them, provisionally, as
related to the Calyptoblastea.

The order is divided into three families.

Fam. 1. Monoprionidae.—Cups arranged uniserially on one side of

the axis.

The principal genera are Monograptus, with the axis straight, curved,
or helicoid, from many horizons in the Silurian strata; Rastrites, with
a spirally coiled axis, Silurian; Didymograptus, Ordovician; and
Coenograptus, Ordovician.

Fam. 2. Diprionidae.—Cups arranged in two or four vertical rows on

the axis.

Diplograptus, Ordovician and Silurian; Climacograptus, Ordovician

and Silurian; and Phyllograptus, in which the axis and cups are
arranged in such a manner that they resemble an ovate leaf.

Fam. 3. Retiolitidae.—Cups arranged biserially on a reticulate axis.

Retiolites, Ordovician and Silurian; Stomatograptus, Retiograptus,

and Glossograptus, Ordovician.
 Fossil Corals possibly allied to Hydrozoa.
Among the many fossil corals that are usually classified with the
Hydrozoa the genus Porosphaera is of interest as it is often
supposed to be related to Millepora. It consists of globular masses
about 10-20 mm. in diameter occurring in the Upper Cretaceous
strata. In the centre there is usually a foreign body around which the
coral was formed by concentric encrusting growth. Running radially
from pores on the surface to the centre, there are numerous tubules
which have a certain general resemblance to the pore-tubes of
Millepora. The monomorphic character of these tubes, their very
minute size, the absence of ampullae, and the general texture of the
corallum, are characters which separate this fossil very distinctly
from any recent Hydroid corals. Porosphaera, therefore, was
probably not a Hydrozoon, and certainly not related to the recent
Millepora.

Closely related to Porosphaera apparently are other globular,

ellipsoidal, or fusiform corals from various strata, such as Loftusia
from the Eocene of Persia, Parkeria from the Cambridge Greensand,
and Heterastridium from the Alpine Trias. In the last named there is
apparently a dimorphism of the radial tubes.

Allied to these genera, again, but occurring in the form of thick,

concentric, calcareous lamellae, are the genera Ellipsactinia and
Sphaeractinia from the Upper Jurassic.

Another important series of fossil corals is that of the family

Stromatoporidae. These fossils are found in great beds of immense
extent in many of the Palaeozoic rocks, and must have played an
important part in the geological processes of that period. They
consist of a series of calcareous lamellae, separated by considerable
intervals, encrusting foreign bodies of various kinds. Sometimes they
are flat and plate-like, sometimes globular or nodular in form. The
lamellae are in some cases perforated by tabulate, vertical, or radial
pores, but in many others these pores are absent. The zoological
position of the Stromatoporidae is very uncertain, but there is not at
present any very conclusive evidence that they are Hydrozoa.

Stromatopora is common in Devonian and also occurs in Silurian

strata. Cannopora from the Devonian has well-marked tabulate
pores, and is often found associated commensally with another coral
(Aulopora or Syringopora).

Order VI. Stylasterina.

The genera included in this order resemble Millepora in producing a
massive calcareous skeleton, and in showing a consistent
dimorphism of the zooids, but in many respects they exhibit great
divergence from the characters of the Milleporina.

The colony is arborescent in growth, the branches arising frequently

only in one plane, forming a flabellum. The calcareous skeleton is
perforated to a considerable depth by the gastrozooids,
dactylozooids, and nutritive canals, and the gastropores and
dactylopores are not provided with tabulae except in the genera
Pliobothrus and Sporadopora. The character which gives the order
its name is a conical, sometimes torch-like projection at the base of
the gastropore, called the "style," which carries a fold of the
ectoderm and endoderm layers of the body-wall, and may serve to
increase the absorptive surface of the digestive cavity. In some
genera a style is also present in the dactylopore, in which case it
serves as an additional surface for the attachment of the retractor
muscles. The pores are scattered on all aspects of the coral in the
genera Sporadopora, Errina, and Pliobothrus; in Spinipora and
Steganopora the scattered dactylopores are situated at the
extremities of tubular spines which project from the general surface
of the coral, the gastropores being situated irregularly between the
spines. In Phalangopora the pores are arranged in regular
longitudinal lines, and in Distichopora they are mainly in rows on the
edges of the flattened branches, a single row of gastropores being
flanked by a single row of dactylopores on each side. In the
remaining genera the pores are arranged in definite cycles, which
are frequently separated from one another by considerable intervals,
and have, particularly in the dried skeleton, a certain resemblance to
the calices of some of the Zoantharian corals.

In Cryptohelia the cycles are covered by a lid-like projection from the

neighbouring coenenchym (Fig. 136, l 1, l 2). The gastrozooids are
short, and are usually provided with a variable number of small
capitate tentacles. The dactylozooids are filiform and devoid of
tentacles, the endoderm of their axes being solid and scalariform.

The gonophores of the Stylasterina are situated in large oval or

spherical cavities called the ampullae, and their presence can
generally be detected by the dome-shaped projections they form on
the surface of the coral. The female gonophore consists of a saucer-
shaped pad of folded endoderm called the "trophodisc," which
serves the purpose of nourishing the single large yolk-laden egg it
bears; and a thin enveloping membrane composed of at least two
layers of cells. The egg is fertilised while it is still within the ampulla,
and does not escape to the exterior until it has reached the stage of
a solid ciliated larva. All the Stylasterina are therefore viviparous.
The male gonophore has a very much smaller trophodisc, which is
sometimes (Allopora) prolonged into a columnar process or spadix,
penetrating the greater part of the gonad. The spermatozoa escape
through a peculiar spout-like duct which perforates the superficial
wall of the ampulla. In some genera (Distichopora) there are several
male gonophores in each ampulla.

The gonophores of the Stylasterina have been regarded as much

altered medusiform gonophores, and this view may possibly prove to
be correct. At present, however, the evidence of their derivation from
Medusae is not conclusive, and it is possible that they may have had
a totally independent origin.

Distichopora and some species of Stylaster are found in shallow

water in the tropics, but most of the genera are confined to deep or
very deep water, and have a wide geographical distribution. No
species have been found hitherto within the British area.

Fig. 136.—A portion of a branch of Cryptohelia ramosa, showing the lids l 1 and l
2 covering the cyclosystems, the swellings produced by the ampullae in the
lids amp1, amp2, and the dactylozooids, dac. × 22. (After Hickson and
England.)

A few specimens of a species of Stylaster have been found in

Tertiary deposits and in some raised beaches of more recent origin,
but the order is not represented in the older strata.

Fam. Stylasteridae.—All the genera at present known are included

in this family.

Sporadopora is the only genus that presents a superficial general

resemblance to Millepora. It forms massive, branching white coralla,
with the pores scattered irregularly on the surface, and, like many
varieties of Millepora, not arranged in cyclosystems. It may, however,
be distinguished at once by the presence of a long, brush-like style
in each of the gastropores. The ampullae are large, but are usually
so deep-seated in the coenenchym that their presence cannot be
detected from the surface. It was found off the Rio de la Plata in 600
fathoms of water by the "Challenger."

In Errina the pores are sometimes irregularly scattered, but in E.

glabra they are arranged in rows on the sides of the branches, while
in E. ramosa the gastropores occur at the angles of the branches
only. The dactylopores are situated on nariform projections of the
corallum. The ampullae are prominent. There are several
gonophores in each ampulla of the male, but only one in each
ampulla of the female. This genus is very widely distributed in water
from 100 to 500 fathoms in depth.

Phalangopora differs from Errina in the absence of a style in the

gastropore; Mauritius.—Pliobothrus has also no style in the
gastropore, and is found in 100-600 fathoms of water off the
American Atlantic shores.

Distichopora is an important genus, which is found in nearly all the

shallow seas of the tropical and semi-tropical parts of the world, and
may even flourish in rock pools between tide marks. It is nearly
always brightly coloured—purple, violet, pale brown, or rose red. The
colony usually forms a small flabellum, with anastomosing branches,
and the pores are arranged in three rows, a middle row of
gastropores and two lateral rows of dactylopores on the sides of the
branches. There is a long style in each gastropore. The ampullae are
numerous and prominent, situated on the anterior and posterior
faces of the branches. Each ampulla contains a single gonophore in
the female colony and two or three gonophores in the male colony.

Spinipora is a rare genus from off the Rio de la Plata in 600 fathoms.
The branches are covered with blunt spines. These spines have a
short gutter-like groove at the apex, which leads into a dactylopore.
The gastropores are provided with a style and are situated between
the spines.

Steganopora[321] from the Djilolo Passage, in about 600 fathoms, is

very similar to Spinipora as regards external features, but differs
from it in the absence of styles in the gastropores, and in the wide
communications between the gastropores and dactylopores.

Stylaster is the largest and most widely distributed genus of the

family, and exhibits a considerable range of structure in the many
species it contains. It is found in all the warmer seas of the world,
living between tide marks at a few fathoms, and extending to depths
of 600 fathoms. Many specimens, but especially those from very
shallow water, are of a beautiful rose or pink colour. The corallum is
arborescent and usually flabelliform. The pores are distributed in
regular cyclosystems, sometimes on one face of the corallum only,
sometimes on the sides of the branches, and sometimes evenly
distributed. There are styles in both gastropores and dactylopores.

Allopora is difficult to separate from Stylaster, but the species are

usually more robust in habit, and the ampullae are not so prominent
as they are on the more delicate branches of Stylaster. It occurs at
depths of 100 fathoms in the Norwegian fjords. A very large red
species (A. nobilis) occurs in False Bay, Cape of Good Hope, in 30
fathoms of water. In this locality the coral occurs in great submarine
beds or forests, and the trawl that is passed over them is torn to
pieces by the hard, thick branches, some of which are an inch or
more in diameter.

Astylus is a genus found in the southern Philippine sea in 500

fathoms of water. It is distinguished from Stylaster by the absence of
a style in the gastropore.

Cryptohelia is an interesting genus found both in the Atlantic and

Pacific Oceans at depths of from 270 to about 600 fathoms. The
cyclosystems are covered by a projecting lid or operculum (Fig. 136,
l 1, l 2). There are no styles in either the gastropores or the
dactylopores. The ampullae are prominent, and are sometimes
situated in the lids. There are several gonophores in each ampulla of
the female colony, and a great many in the ampulla of the male
colony.

CHAPTER XI
 HYDROZOA (CONTINUED): TRACHOMEDUSAE—NARCOMEDUSAE—
SIPHONOPHORA

Order VII. Trachomedusae.

The orders Trachomedusae and Narcomedusae are probably closely
related to one another and to some of the families of Medusae at
present included in the order Calyptoblastea, and it seems probable
that when the life-histories of a few more genera are made known
the three orders will be united into one. Very little is known of the
hydrosome stage of the Trachomedusae, but Brooks[322] has shown
that in Liriope, and Murbach[323] that in Gonionema, the fertilised
ovum gives rise to a Hydra-like form, and in the latter this exhibits a
process of reproduction by gemmation before it gives rise to
Medusae. Any general statement, therefore, to the effect that the
development of the Trachomedusae is direct would be incorrect. The
fact that the hydrosomes already known are epizoic or free-
swimming does not afford a character of importance for distinction
from the Leptomedusae, for it is quite possible that in this order of
Medusae the hydrosomes of many genera may be similar in form
and habits to those of Liriope and Gonionema.

The free border of the umbrella of the Trachomedusae is entire; that

is to say, it is not lobed or fringed as it is in the Narcomedusae. The
sense-organs are statocysts, each consisting of a vesicle formed by
a more or less complete fold of the surrounding wall of the margin of
the umbrella, containing a reduced clapper-like tentacle loaded at its
extremity with a statolith.
 Fig. 137.—Liriope rosacea, one of the Geryoniidae, from the west side of North
and Central America. Size, 15-20 mm. Colour, rose. cp, Centripetal canal;
gon, gonad; M, mouth at the end of a long manubrium; ot, statocyst; t,
tentacle; to, tongue. (After Maas.)

This statocyst is innervated by the outer nerve ring. There appears to

be a very marked difference between these marginal sense-organs
in some of the best-known examples of Trachomedusae and the
corresponding organs of the Leptomedusae. The absence of a stalk
supporting the statolith and the innervation of the otocyst by the
inner instead of by the outer nerve ring in the Leptomedusae form
characters that may be of supplementary value, but cannot be
regarded as absolutely distinguishing the two orders. The statorhab
of the Trachomedusae is probably the more primitive of the two
types, and represents a marginal tentacle of the umbrella reduced in
size, loaded with a statolith and enclosed by the mesogloea.
Intermediate stages between this type and an ordinary tentacle have
already been discovered and described. In the type that is usually
found in the Leptomedusae the modified tentacle is still further
reduced, and all that can be recognised of it is the statolith attached
to the wall of the statocyst, but intermediate stages between the two
types are seen in the family Olindiidae, in which the stalk supporting
the statolith passes gradually into the tissue surrounding the statolith
on the one hand and the vesicle wall on the other. The radial canals
are four or eight in number or more numerous. They communicate at
the margin of the umbrella with a ring canal from which a number of
short blind tubes run in the umbrella-wall towards the centre of the
Medusa (Fig. 137, cp). These "centripetal canals" are subject to
considerable variation, but are useful characters in distinguishing the
Trachomedusae from the Leptomedusae. The tentacles are situated
on the margin of the umbrella, and are four or eight in number or, in
some cases, more numerous. The gonads are situated as in
Leptomedusae on the sub-umbrella aspect of the radial canals.

In Gonionema murbachii the fertilised eggs give rise to a free-

swimming ciliated larva of an oval shape with one pole longer and
narrower than the other. The mouth appears subsequently at the
narrower pole. The larva settles down upon the broader pole, the
mouth appears at the free extremity, and in a few days two, and later
two more, tentacles are formed (Fig. 138).

At this stage the larva may be said to be Hydra-like in character, and

as shown in Fig. 138 it feeds and lives an independent existence.
From its body-wall buds arise which separate from the parent and
give rise to similar Hydra-like individuals. An asexual generation thus
gives rise to new individuals by gemmation as in the hydrosome of
the Calyptoblastea. The origin of the Medusae from this Hydra-like
stage has not been satisfactorily determined, but it seems probable
that by a process of metamorphosis the hydriform persons are
directly changed into the Medusae.[324]

Fig. 138.—Hydra-like stage in the development of Gonionema murbachii. One of

the tentacles is carrying a worm (W) to the mouth. The tentacles are shown
very much contracted, but they are capable of extending to a length of 2
mm. Height of zooid about 1 mm. (After Perkins.)
In the development of Liriope the free-swimming larva develops into
a hydriform person with four tentacles and an enormously elongated
hypostome or manubrium; and, according to Brooks, it undergoes a
metamorphosis which directly converts it into a Medusa.

There can be very little doubt that in a large number of

Trachomedusae the development is direct, the fertilised ovum giving
rise to a medusome without the intervention of a hydrosome stage.
In some cases, however (Geryonia, etc.), the tentacles appear in
development before there is any trace of a sub-umbrella cavity, and
this has been interpreted to be a transitory but definite Hydroid
stage. It may be supposed that the elimination of the hydrosome
stage in these Coelenterates may be associated with their
adaptation to a life in the ocean far from the coast.

During the growth of the Medusa from the younger to the adult
stages several changes probably occur of a not unimportant
character, and it may prove that several genera now placed in the
same or even different families are stages in the development, of the
same species. In the development of Liriantha appendiculata,[325] for
example, four interradial tentacles appear in the first stage which
disappear and are replaced by four radial tentacles in the second
stage.

As with many other groups of free-swimming marine animals the

Trachomedusae have a very wide geographical distribution, and
some genera may prove to be almost cosmopolitan, but the majority
of the species appear to be characteristic of the warmer regions of
the high seas. Sometimes they are found at the surface, but more
usually they swim at a depth of a few fathoms to a hundred or more
from the surface. The Pectyllidae appear to be confined to the
bottom of the sea at great depths.

The principal families of the Trachomedusae are:—

Fam. Olindiidae.—This family appears to be structurally and in
development most closely related to the Leptomedusae, and is
indeed regarded by Goto[326] as closely related to the Eucopidae in
that order. They have two sets of tentacles, velar and exumbrellar;
the statocysts are numerous, two on each side of the exumbrellar
tentacles. Radial canals four or six. Manubrium well developed and
quadrate, with distinct lips. There is an adhesive disc on each
exumbrellar tentacle.

Genera: Olindias, Olindioides, Gonionema (Fig. 139), and Halicalyx.

As in other families of Medusae the distribution of the genera is very

wide. Olindias mülleri occurs in the Mediterranean, Olindioides
formosa off the coast of Japan, Gonionema murbachii is found in
abundance in the eel pond at Wood's Holl, United States of America,
and Halicalyx off Florida.

Two genera may be referred to in this place, although their

systematic position in relation to each other and to other Medusae
has not been satisfactorily determined.

Fig. 139.—Gonionema murbachii. Adult Medusa, shown inverted, and clinging to

the bottom. Nat. size. (After Perkins.)

Limnocodium sowerbyi is a small Medusa that was first discovered in

the Victoria regia tanks in the Botanic Gardens, Regent's Park,
London, in the year 1880. It has lately made its appearance in the
Victoria regia tank in the Parc de la Bête d'Or at Lyons.[327] As it
was, at the time of its discovery, the only fresh-water jelly-fish known,
it excited considerable interest, and this interest was not diminished
when the peculiarities of its structure were described by Lankester
and others. It has a rather flattened umbrella, with entire margin and
numerous marginal tentacles, the manubrium is long, quadrate, and
has four distinct lips. There are four radial canals, and the male
gonads (all the specimens discovered were of the male sex) are sac-
like bodies on the sub-umbrellar aspect of the middle points of the
four radial canals. In these characters the genus shows general
affinities with the Olindiidae. The difficult question of the origin of the
statoliths from the primary germ layers of the embryo and some
other points in the minute anatomy of the Medusa have suggested
the view that Limnocodium is not properly placed in any of the other
orders. Goto,[328] however, in a recent paper, confirms the view of
the affinities of Limnocodium with the Olindiidae.

The life-history of Limnocodium is not known, but a curious Hydroid

form attached to Pontederia roots was found in the same tank as the
Medusae, and this in all probability represents the hydrosome stage
of its development. The Medusae are formed apparently by a
process of transverse fission of the Hydroid stock[329] similar in
some respects to that observed in the production of certain
Acraspedote Medusae. This is quite unlike the asexual mode of
formation of Medusae in any other Craspedote form. The structure of
this hydrosome is, moreover, very different to that of any other
Hydroid, and consequently the relations of the genus with the
Trachomedusae cannot be regarded as very close.

Limnocodium has only been found in the somewhat artificial

conditions of the tanks in botanical gardens, and its native locality is
not known, but its association with the Victoria regia water-lily seems
to indicate that its home is in tropical South America.
Limnocnida tanganyicae is another remarkable fresh-water Medusa,
about seven-eights of an inch in diameter, found in the lakes
Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza of Central Africa.[330] It differs from
Limnocodium in having a short collar-like manubrium with a large
round mouth two-thirds the diameter of the umbrella, and in several
other not unimportant particulars. It produces in May and June a
large number of Medusa-buds by gemmation on the manubrium, and
in August and September the sexual organs are formed in the same
situation.

Fig. 140.—Limnocnida tanganyicae. × 2. (After Günther.)

The fixed hydrosome stage, if such a stage occurs in the life-history,

has not been discovered; but Mr. Moore[331] believes that the
development is direct from ciliated planulae to the Medusae. The
occurrence of Limnocnida in Lake Tanganyika is supposed by the
same authority to afford a strong support to the view that this lake
represents the remnants of a sea which in Jurassic times spread
over part of the African continent. This theory has, however, been
adversely criticised from several sides.[332]

The character of the manubrium and the position of the sexual cells
suggest that Limnocnida has affinities with the Narcomedusae or
Anthomedusae, but the marginal sense-organs and the number and
position of the tentacles, showing considerable similarity with those
of Limnocodium, justify the more convenient plan of placing the two
genera in the same family.

Fam. Petasidae.—The genus Petasus is a small Medusa with four

radial canals, four gonads, four tentacles, and four free marginal
statorhabs. A few other genera associated with Petasus show simple
characters as regards the canals and the marginal organs, but as
very little is known of any of the genera the family may be regarded
as provisional only. Petasus is found in the Mediterranean and off
the Canaries.

Fam. Trachynemidae.—In this family there are eight radial canals,

and the statorhabs are sunk into a marginal vesicle. Trachynema,
characterised by its very long manubrium, is a not uncommon
Medusa of the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Many
of the species are small, but T. funerarium has sometimes a disc two
inches in diameter. Homoconema and Pentachogon have numerous
very short tentacles.

Fam. Pectyllidae.—This family contains a few deep-sea species

with characters similar to those of the preceding family, but the
tentacles are provided with terminal suckers. Pectyllis is found in the
Atlantic Ocean at depths of over 1000 fathoms.

Fam. Aglauridae.—The radial canals are eight in number and the

statorhabs are usually free. In the manubrium there is a rod-like
projection of the mesogloea from the aboral wall of the gastric cavity,
covered by a thin epithelium of endoderm, which occupies a
considerable portion of the lumen of the manubrium. This organ may
be called the tongue. Aglaura has an octagonal umbrella, and a
manubrium which does not project beyond the velum. It occurs in the
Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

Fam. Geryoniidae.—In this family there are four or six radial canals,
the statorhabs are sunk in the mesogloea, and a tongue is present in
the manubrium. Liriope (Fig. 137) is sometimes as much as three
inches in diameter. It has a very long manubrium, and the tongue
sometimes projects beyond the mouth. There are four very long
radial tentacles. It is found in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean
Sea, and the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Geryonia has a wider
geographical distribution than Liriope, and is sometimes four inches
in diameter. It differs from Liriope in having six, or a multiple of six,