Nausithoe globifera Broch, 1913

Molinari, Clarissa G., Collins, Allen G. & Morandini, André C., 2023, A morphological review of the jellyfish genus Nausithoe Kölliker, 1853 (Nausithoideae, Coronatae, Scyphozoa, Cnidaria), Zootaxa 5336 (1), pp. 1-32 : 11

Nausithoe globifera Broch, 1913

( Fig. 7 : A–D)

Nausithoe globifera Broch, 1913: 10–11 , pl. I figs 5–8.

Holotype not known, possibly not extant.

Material examined: NHM 1956.7.31.4 and NHM 1956.7.31.5-10 (seven specimens from France — Italy 1956, no information on depth), NHM 1982.11.30.136 (one specimen from Portugal 1959, depth: 1,600 m), NHM 1982.11.30.139 (one specimen with no info about locality, 1982, depth: 1,600 m) .

Diagnosis: medusa—hyperdome bell and deep purple-reddish stomach; polyp—solitary with eight cusps per whorl.

Description: Based on original description, Bigelow (1928), Kramp (1961), and Jarms (1997). Adult medusae up to 22 mm in diameter, 10 mm of this the central disc; umbrella smooth, transparent, with high-domed central disc (hyperdome); lappets wide and rounded; rhopalia with statocyst and slightly colored ventral bulb; 80 or more gastric filaments in total; stomach deep purple-reddish; marginal tentacles, orange-red; gonads slightly mitten-shaped with a slight cleft, white to reddish brown. The polyp described for this species was 6.86 mm long and 0.92 mm in aperture diameter. It had eight cusps per whorl and four whorls in total. Soft body with a maximum of 40 tentacles. Strobilation produces 24 ephyrae.

Type locality: North Atlantic (45°26’N 25°45’W, 1,000m depth) .

Distribution: Eastern part of North Atlantic.

Remarks: The four examined specimens were too damaged, preventing observations of the structure of the rhopalia. Gonads were oblong to slightly quadrangular, with a cleft, rendering them asymmetrical, located above the coronal groove. Four triangular gastric septa with more than 15 gastric filaments each (apparently more than 60 in total). Transparent umbrella with deep-red central gastrovascular cavity and manubrium (some specimens lost color completely). Tentacles were as long as the estimated total diameter of specimens, measuring around 20 mm long.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Nausithoe globifera (A–D) and Nausithoe hagenbecki (E–H). A—Drawing from Russell 1970. B and C: NHM 1982.11.30.139; D: NHM 1982.11.30.136. B—side view of female medusa; note the high dome-shaped central disc and the oval gonads (g) with hundreds of eggs. C—side view of male medusa, focusing on the deep coronal groove (cg) and gonads (g); it is also possible to see a small crustacean prey inside the gastrovascular cavity. D—side view of a male with the red pigmentation of the gastrovascular cavity and the gastric filaments (gf) still preserved. E—Image adapted from Jarms 2001; representation of an adult female medusa with coronal groove (cg), gastric filament (gf), gonads (g), mouth (mo) with lips, rhopalium (rh) with statolith and ocellus, tentacle (t). F—Polyp as collected in the tank of Hagenbeck’s Tierpark. G—Oral view of polyp with multiple club-like lips (l). H—Strobilating polyp with dense packed ephyrae.