Nausithoe hagenbecki Jarms, 2001

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 : 11-13

Nausithoe hagenbecki Jarms, 2001

( Fig. 7 : E–H)

Nausithoe hagenbecki Jarms, 2001: 14–18 , figs 1–5.

Holotype ZMH C11659 .

Material examined: ZMH C11659.

Diagnosis: medusa—hypodome bell with short tentacles and gonads arranged in pairs; polyp—solitary with 16 cusps per whorl and collar surrounded by multiple club-like lips.

Description: Based on original description. Adult medusae 5 mm in diameter, 3.7 mm between rhopalia and 1.6 mm being the flat central disc (hypodome); rhopalia with statolith and a dark red pigmented ocellus; stout and short tentacles (shorter than the lappets); one gastric filament per quadrant (four in total); spherical gonads arranged in pairs situated beneath the coronal groove. Polyp solitary with at least two whorls of 16 cusps; 28.8 mm in total length; soft body with four lobes at the collar and mouth surrounded by four bigger (coming from the gastric septae) and 16 smaller (from the mouth margin) club-like lips; up to 8.2 mm-long slender tentacles.

Type locality: found in the tropical aquarium of the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany.

Distribution: Unknown, not yet found in the wild.

Remarks: The polyp’s soft body morphology in this species is remarkably different from other animals of the genus, with four lobes at the collar and mouth surrounded by four bigger and 16 smaller club-like lips. The shape and positioning of the gonads, arranged in pairs, are the most distinctive characteristics of the medusae.

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.