Amphogona apsteini (Vanhöffen), Vanhoffen

Nagata, Renato Mitsuo, Júnior, Miodeli Nogueira & Haddad, Maria Angélica, 2014, Faunistic survey of Hydromedusae (Cnidaria, Medusozoa) from the coast of Paraná State, Southern Brazil, Zootaxa 3768 (3), pp. 291-326 : 317-318

Amphogona apsteini (Vanhöffen)

References consulted. Mayer 1910: 405–406, fig. 257. Kramp 1955: 274. Kramp 1959a: 188, 242, 249–251, fig. 280. Kramp 1961: 252–253. Bouillon 1999: 437, fig 3.174.

Material. Municipality of Pontal do Paraná, Balneário de Praia de Leste (25º48’S – 48º04’W): 22/04/1998 — 5 specimens; (25º50’S – 47º55’W): 22/04/1998 — 6 specimens.

Reference specimens deposited. MZUSP 1507, 1 specimen. Dzoo-Cn 242, 1 specimen.

World distribution. Cosmopolitan in tropical waters. Indian Ocean; Maldives and Sumatra. Western Pacific; Great Barrier Reef, Japan, and Taiwan. Atlantic: Ghana and Brazil ( Kramp 1955, 1959a; Migotto et al. 2002, Lin 2010).

Distribution in Brazil. From the state of São Paulo to Rio Grande do Sul ( Vannucci 1963; Moreira 1973; Navas-Pereira 1981; this study).

Description. Umbrella nearly hemispherical, wider than high, thin mesoglea 2–3 mm in diameter. Tiny stomach, short conical gastric peduncle. Mouth with 4 curved short lips. In almost all specimens, lips curled up, or horizontally. 8 spherical to elongated gonads, hanging on the distal 1/4 of the radial canals; in less developed specimens, four large gonads alternate with four small gonads. In more developed specimens, gonads almost of equal size. Between 50 and 70 marginal tentacles estimated, because the margin was usually damaged.

Systematic remarks. Three valid species in the genus ( Schuchert 2013). Amphogona pusilla Hartlaub is distinguished by having only 16 marginal tentacles and spherical gonads. Amphogona apicata Kramp , which also occurs in the southwest Atlantic ( Kramp 1957), is distinguished by the slightly higher umbrella, with a gelatinous apical projection. Amphogona apsteini has the umbrella flatter than the other two species, more tentacles than A. pusilla , and 8 unequally sized gonads in young specimens, alternating large and small gonads on the distal portion of radial canals, which facilitates its identification.

Biological data. Medusae of the species were considered hermaphroditic, with alternating male and female gonads (Browne 1904, cited in Mayer 1910), although this condition has been questioned (Carré & Carré 2000).

Bougainvillia pagesi Nogueira Jr., Rodriguez, Mianzan, Haddad 559 CW 8, 9 & Genzano 2013.

Family Hydractiniidae L. Agassiz ,

Hydractinia sp. Es 7 Family Niobiidae Peterson, 1979

Niobia dendrotentaculata Mayer, 1900 8 SW 5, 9 Family Oceanidae Eschscholtz, 1829

Turritopsis nutricula McCrady, 1859 3 SW 5, 9 Family Proboscidactylidae Hand & Hendrickson, 1950

Proboscidactyla ornata (McCrady, 1859) 52 CW, SW 1, 5, 9 Family Corymorphidae Allman, 1872

......continued on the next page