Carybdea confusa Straehler-Pohl, Matsumoto & Acevedo, 2017

Acevedo, Melissa J., Straehler-Pohl, Ilka, Morandini, André C., Stampar, Sergio N., Bentlage, Bastian, Matsumoto, George I., Yanagihara, Angel, Toshino, Sho, Bordehore, César & Fuentes, Verónica L., 2019, Revision of the genus Carybdea (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Carybdeidae): clarifying the identity of its type species Carybdea marsupialis, Zootaxa 4543 (4), pp. 515-548 : 525

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4543.4.3
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:EDFF0523-01DE-4F51-8499-ED82437EB049
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5943451
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B45208-FFE4-F018-14B9-FAA4DCD29F05
treatment provided by	Plazi (2019-03-30 06:51:49, last updated 2024-11-27 05:25:51)
scientific name	Carybdea confusa Straehler-Pohl, Matsumoto & Acevedo, 2017
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Carybdea confusa Straehler-Pohl, Matsumoto & Acevedo, 2017 View in CoL

Figs. 1 View FIGURE 1 J–M

Material examined: Holotype ( CASIZ 197981 ), 1 specimen, from Santa Barbara (California) collected 20 meters west of Goleta Pier in 5 meters of water; collected by Shane Anderson, October 21, 1998; preserved in 5% formaldehyde solution . Paratypes, ( CASIZ 197982 ) , 2 specimens, same data as holotype. Five (5) different sized individuals, same data as holotype and paratypes. Two (2) specimens deposited in the Natural History Museum of Barcelona (Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona), Spain ( MZB 2015-1702 View Materials ) .

Diagnosis: Gastric phacellae epaulette shaped, single rooted, single stemmed; velarial canals 2 per octant; multiple branched, with rounded tips; pedalial knee bend with thorn-like appendage.

Description: Adult medusa: Bell ( Fig. 1J View FIGURE 1 ) transparent, nearly cuboid, marked interradial furrows, bell densely scattered with white nematocysts of irregular shapes and sizes; bell height up to 20 mm, bell width up to 31.5 mm.

Pedalia ( Fig. 1L View FIGURE 1 ), 4, simple, unbranched flattened, scalpel-shaped, situated in each interradial corner, measures approx. 2/3 bell height in length, outer wing, scattered with round to oval warts of different sizes, white nematocyst bands on outer keel; inner wing, without nematocyst warts; pedalium with one white to flesh coloured tentacle (in preserved specimens). Pedalial canal, lumen diamond shaped with sharp keels, broad at base, flaring slightly from knee bend towards distal end, slightly tapering at distal end, tentacle insertion broader than distal end of canal; going straight to slightly curved through pedalium, volcano to triangular knee bend with small, thorn-like appendage on outer knee bend.

Rhopalia, 4, rhopaliar niche ostium heart-shaped with triangular covering scale, small nematocysts on scales on rare occasions, approx. 1/5 of bell height up from margin; rhopalium with 6 eyes (2 median lens eyes + 2 lateral slit eyes + 2 lateral pit eyes).

Velarium ( Fig. 1M View FIGURE 1 ), in general free of nematocyst warts, only canal roots might show some scattered, small warts, containing 2 broad velarial canal roots per octant, giving rise to 2 to 3 branched velarial canals, canals slim in width, forked at tips, tips rounded, slightly dendritic or lobate, often with more than 2 side branches; canals flanking frenulum simpler, biforked to triforked with few, straight side branches; canals flanking pedalia more complex, root with 2 to 3 main branches with several side branches, resembling antlers.

Manubrium (1/3–1/2 bell height in length), 4 lobes, cruciform manubrium without nematocyst warts, connected to flat and shallow stomach; stomach communicates perradially with 4 gastric pockets leading into velarial canals. 4 gastric phacellae ( Fig. 1K View FIGURE 1 ), epaulette-shaped, mounted on 4 stomach corners, consisting of one circular root per quadrant that gives rise to one stem that splits into branches with several brush-like filaments.

Gonads,4 pairs, broad leaf-like to arrowhead-shaped, separated by unperforated interradial septum, extending from stomach rim to bell margin, tapering towards stomach rim and bell margin, lateral margins overlap; sexes separate but unimorph; ripe gonads milky whitish in both sexes.

Remarks: The specimens from California were first mentioned by Stiasny (1922) and identified as C. rastonii citing Maas (1903, 1910), Bigelow (1909) and Mayer (1910) who declared C. arborifera to be a junior synonym of C. rastonii . This identification was later adopted by Satterlie (1979) and Satterlie & Spencer (1979). In 1990, Larson & Arneson collected cubozoans off Scripps pier, La Jolla (California). Larson, observing what he thought was Carybdea marsupialis in Puerto Rico ( Larson 1976), reclassified the carybdeid species from California (Larson 1990) as C. marsupialis . Later, Larson and Arneson (1990) examined C. rastonii specimens collected at the species type locality (i.e. Gulf of St. Vincent, Australia), as well as C. xaymacana medusae from the Bahamas, which were misidentified as C. marsupialis . The authors concluded that the specimens collected in La Jolla fit more closely the diagnosis of C. marsupialis as described by Bigelow (1938) than that of C. rastonii by Maas (1897). This diagnosis was adopted by Satterlie and Nolen (2001), but not all authors agreed with this reclassification, as the morphological diagnoses did not match ( Fenner 1997; Gershwin 2005a).

Straehler-Pohl et al. (2017) compared all species in question with specimens from California and due to the explicit differences in morphological characters, it was concluded that the Carybdea specimens from California represented members of a new species and was named Carybdea confusa .

Reported distribution of Carybdea confusa : Pacific Ocean (California)

References

Bigelow, H. B. (1909) Reports on the scientific results of the expedition to the eastern tropical Pacific, in charge of Alexander Agassiz, by the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer Albatross from Oct. 1904 to March 1905, Lieut. Commander L. M. Garrett, U. S. N., commanding, XVI. The Medusae. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, 37, 1 - 243.

Bigelow, H. B. (1938) Plankton of the Bermuda Oceanographic Expeditions. VIII. Medusae taken during the years 1929 and 1930. Zoologica NY, 23 (Part 2), 99 - 189.

Fenner, P. J. (1997) The global problem of Cnidarian (Jellyfish) stinging. MD Thesis, University of London, London, 204 pp.

Gershwin, L. (2005 a) Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Australian Cubozoa. PhD thesis, School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University, Townsville, 202 pp.

Larson, R. J. (1976) Cubomedusae: Feeding-functional morphology, behaviour and phylogenetic position. In: Mackie, G. O. (Ed.), Coelenterate ecology and behaviour. Plenum Press, New York and London, pp. 237 - 245. https: // doi. org / 10.1007 / 978 - 1 - 4757 - 9724 - 4 _ 25

Larson, R. J. & Arneson, A. C. (1990) Two medusae new to the coast of California: Carybdea marsupialis (Linneaus, 1758), a Cubomedusa and Phyllorhiza punctata von Lendenfeld, 1884, a Rhizostome Scyphomedusa. Bulletin of the Southern Californian Academy of Science, 89, 130 - 136.

Maas, O. (1897) XXI. Die Medusen-Reports on an exploration off the West Coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, and off the Galapagos Islands, in charge of Alexander Agassiz, by the U. S. Fish Comission Steamer Albatross during 1891, Lieutenant Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., Commanding. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, 23 (1), 1 - 92.

Maas, O. (1903) Die Scyphomedusen der Siboga-Expedition. Siboga-Expeditie, 11 (10), 1 - 91.

Maas, O. (1910) Japanische Medusen-Beitrage zur Naturgeschichte Ostasiens. Abhandlungen der II. Klasse der Koniglichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1 (8), 1 - 52.

Mayer, A. G. (1910) The Scyphomedusae. In: The Medusae of the World. Vol. III. Carnegie Institution of Washington, 109 (3), 499 - 735.

Satterlie, R. A. & Spencer, A. N. (1979) Swimming control in a cubomedusan jellyfish. Nature, 281, 141 - 142. https: // doi. org / 10.1038 / 281141 a 0

Satterlie, R. A. & Nolen T. G. (2001) Why do cubomedusae have only four pacemakers? The Journal of Experimental Biology, 204, 1413 - 1419.

Stiasny, G (1922) Die Scyphomedusen-Sammlung von Dr. Th. Mortensen nebst anderen Medusen aus dem zoologischen Museum der Universitat in Kopenhagen. Fidenskabelige Meddelelser Naturhistorisk Forening i KObenhavn, 77, 33 - 558.

Straehler-Pohl, I., Matsumoto, G. I. & Acevedo, M. J. (2017) Recognition of the Californian cubozoan population as a new species: Carybdea confusa n. sp. (Cnidaria, Cubozoa, Carybdeida). Plankton & Benthos Research, 12 (2), 129 - 138. https: // doi. org / 10.3800 / pbr. 12.129

Figures

FIGURE 1. Characters for identification of Carybdea species (species in order of appearance in the text). C. marsupialis: A) adult medusa (preserved) B) epaulette-shaped gastric phacellus C) pedalial canal with rounded knee bend without appendage D) octant of velarium with 3 canal roots, note slender, very sharp tipped velarial canals. C. xaymacana: E) adult medusa (preserved) F) single rooted gastric phacellum, original drawing of Bigelow (1938) G) gastric phacellus H) pedalial canal, note knee bend with appended peak (arrow) I) octant of velarium, note two broad, biforked, sharp-tipped velarial canals. Carybdea confusa: J) adult medusa (preserved) K) single stemmed, single rooted gastric phacellus L) pedalial canal knee bend with appended thorn (arrow) M) octant of velarium, note two multiple branched, round tipped velarial canals. Scale bar: 1 cm.