Lizzia octostyla ( Haeckel, 1879 )

Wang, Chunguang, Xu, Zhenzu, Huang, Jiaqi, Guo, Donghui, Lin, Mao & Xia, Zhen, 2016, Taxonomic notes on Hydroidomedusae (Cnidaria) from South China Sea III: Family Rathkeidae and Zancleopsidae, Zoological Systematics 41 (4), pp. 392-403 : 397-398

Lizzia octostyla ( Haeckel, 1879) ( Figs 12–14 )

Desmorphosa octostyla Haeckel, 1879: 78 , pl. 6, fig. 6. Podocoryne octostyla Mayer, 1910: 140 ; Neppi & Stiasny, 1911: 399. Lizzia octostyla Neppi & Stiasny, 1913: 32–34 , pl. 2, fig. 22; Kramp, 1959: 106, fig. 81; 1961: 88–89; Bouillon et al., 2004: 47, fig. 28F;

Boillon et al., 2006: 134; Xu & Huang, 2006: 235, fig. 3A–B; Schuchert, 2007: 295, fig. 40; Du et al., 2010: 74; Xu et al., 2014:

230, fig. 85.

Material examined. Fujian coastal waters from the Minnan and Mindong during April 2006, one medusa; NHW13021 (22°58'N, 118°46'E), depth 1194 m, 8 October 2013, one medusa; Daya Bay , March 2008, about abundance 50–100 ind./m 3 .

Diagnosis. Medusa with low apical apex, with peduncle; eight oral tentacles in perradial pairs; eight marginal bulbs; 8–12 tentacles; medusa buds on manubrium.

Description. Umbrella 1 mm high, 0.7 m wide, with bulging side and low conical apex; manubrium mounted upon a conical peduncles; both together about half as long as the depth of the bell cavity; eight unbranched adradial oral tentacles inserting in pairs in the perradial corners of the level of mouth margin; radial canals narrow; eight small marginal bulbs, interradial ones slightly smaller; no ocelli; in younger specimens one tentacle per bulb, in older ones perradial bulbs with 2–3 tentacles; gonads as flat pads on manubrium wall, interradial medusa buds on middle of manubrium.

Biology. Lizzia octostyla is a warm water species found in nearshore waters. The medusa has the ability to the rapical proliferation by asexually budding, which may at times be exceedingly abundant. It occurs in the plankton around the Daya Bay in March ( Du et al., 2010).

Distribution. This medusa is a neritic species. In China Sea, it occurs in the Fujian coastal water on the Taiwan Strait ( Xu et al, 2006) and in the Daya Bay on the northern of South China Sea ( Du et al., 2010). It is also present in the Mediterranean ( Mayer, 1910 as Podocoryne octostyla ; Neppi & Stiasny, 1911 as Podocoryne octostyla ; 1913 as Lizzia octostyla ).

Remarks. Previously, Lizzia octostyla was treated as an endemic species of Mediterranean Sea ( Bouillon et al., 2004). It was widely distributed in Mediterranean such as Ligurian Sea ( Kramp, 1957 as juvenile of Koellikerina fasciculata ), Tyrrhenian Sea (Brinckmann-Voss, 1970), Adriatic Sea (Neppi & Stiasny, 1911; 1913), Ionian Sea ( Haeckel, 1879). Our specimens mostly agree with the original description of Lizzia octostyla with an exception, that is, the marginal perradial bulb of our samples bears 2–3 tentacles, while samples of Mediterranean bears 1–2 tentacles. Schuchert (2007) speculated Lizzia octostyla may be a form of Lizzia blondina .

Figures

Figures 3–13. Lizzia spp. 3–8. L. blondina (Forbes, 1848). 9–11. L. gracilis (Mayer, 1900), in lateral view (after Mayer, 1910). 12–13. L. octostyla (Haeckel, 1879). 3. Medusa before gonad maturation and with medusa buds, in lateral view (after Xu et al., 2014). 4. Mature medusa with two tentacles each perradial marginal bulb, in lateral view (after Schuchert, 2007). 5. Mature medusa with three tentacles each perradial bulbs, in lateral view (modified from Russell, 1953a). 6–8. Semi-diagrammatic illustration of three stages of development in aboral view (after Russell, 1953b). 9. Newly liberated medusa with four perradial tentacles. 10. Halfgrown medusa with eight tentacles. 11. Asexually produced medusa buds. 12. Lateral view. 13. Oral view (after Schuchert, 2007). Scale bars: 3–4=0.1mm; 9–11 =0.5mm; 12=0.2mm.

Figures 14. Lizzia octostyla (Haeckel, 1879), mouth margin with oral tentacles.