Nausithoe punctata Kölliker, 1853

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 : 19-20

Nausithoe punctata Kölliker, 1853

( Fig. 12 )

Nausithoe punctata K̂lliker, 1853: 323.

Nausithoe albida Gegenbaur, 1856: 211–214 .

Stephanoscyphus mirabilis Allman, 1874: 65 , pl. XIV.

Nausicaa phaecum Haeckel, 1880: 485–486 .

Liniscus cyamopterus Haeckel, 1880: 497–498 .

Nausithoe punctata var. pacifica Agassiz & Mayer, 1899: 170 .

Holotype not known, possibly not extant.

Material examined: NHM 1902.7.29.32, NHM 1950.3.1.195 (six specimens from Naples, Italy 1902 and 1905, no information on depth), NHM 1930.12.9.86.89 (four specimens from Ceylon, Sri Lanka 1930, no information on depth), ZMH C7263 , C7350 (five specimens from Naples, Italy, no information on depth), NMNH 58427 (two specimens from the NE Atlantic Ocean 1978, no information on depth), NMNH 41723 (one specimen from Bermuda 1914, no information on depth), NMNH 57649 (one specimen from Puerto Rico 1975, no information on depth), NMNH 57652 , 57654 (15 specimens from Saint Croix, USA Virgin Islands 1975, no information on depth), NMNH 57770 , 57775 , 57776 , 57777 , 57779 (more than 30 specimens from Belize 1976, no information on depth) and photo from underwater photographer, Fabio Russo (Red Sea, Egypt 2018) .

Diagnosis: medusa—hypodome bell with transparent umbrella; polyp—colonial, living inside sponges and with a single small basal disc holding the complete colony.

Description: Based on original description, Bigelow (1928), Mayer (1910), Vanĥffen (1913), Kramp (1961), and Werner (1970).Adult medusa 12 mm in diameter, 6 mm of this the central disc, 6 mm height; flattened transparent umbrella (hypodome) with pale pink disc and yellowish lappets; rounded marginal lappets; rhopalia with statocyst and ocellus; gonads can vary from white yellow (more immature) to dark brown or blue; females with 2 to 4 eggs per gonad. Polyp colonial, living inside sponges; a primary polyp with a single small basal disc holds the complete colony; individually, the polyps have a typical coronate polyp appearance; soft body with no algal symbiont.

Type locality: Messina, Italy.

Distribution: possibly a worldwide species in shallow waters.

Remarks: In the examined specimens, eggs are bigger in relation to the animal size when compared to those of N. globifera and N. rubra . Specimens had from 20 to 32 gastric filaments in total (5 to 8 per quadrant). The maximum total diameter was 9 mm and tentacles reached up to 4 mm long. The absence of pigmentation in the lappets was the character we used to differentiate these specimens from N. maculata , because all the other morphological features seem to be conflicting. Nevertheless, this pigmentation might vanish when the animal is kept in formalin for too long, so we also considered body size ( N. punctata is slightly bigger) and excluded from analyses young specimens to avoid misidentifications.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Nausithoe punctata. A—Original drawing by B. Werner of the polyp colony inside a sponge. B—Colony in Sant’Angelo, Naples, Italy; only the terminal end of the polyps, with the tentacle crown, is visible (photo: © Fabio Russo 2017). C–F: NMNH 57654. C—Aboral view of adult medusa showing the gastrovascular cavity (gc). D—Oral view of adult medusa showing the mouth (mo) with manubrium. E—Detail of the gastrovascular cavity showing the gastric filaments (gf), gonads (g) and coronal groove (cg). F—Detail of the rhopalium (rh), with statocyst (s) and ocellus (e).