<i>Carybdea morandinii</i>—New investigations on its life cycle reveal its true genus: <i>Carybdea morandinii</i> Straehler-Pohl & Jarms, 2011 becomes <i>Alatina morandinii</i> (Straehler-Pohl & Jarms, 2011)

Abstract

Abstract:The name Carybdea morandinii Straehler-Pohl & Jarms, 2011 was applied to unknown cubopolyps found on dead coral rock at the Hagenbeck Zoo, Hamburg, Germany, during 1999, and a description was given of its early life history. Although included in Carybdeidae Lesson, 1843, its familial affinities remained uncertain. In 2006, a population of unidentified cubopolyps was discovered on the walls of a saltwater tank at the Umikirara Aquarium, Nagasaki, Japan. In addition, an immature cubomedusa and polyps were collected at Ginowan and Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan, in 2002 and 2012. Genetic analysis established that these polyps and the medusa belonged to the same species as the polyps found in Nagasaki. Comparisons of the anatomy and asexual propagation methods of Japanese polyps, and their newly detached medusae, with early life stages of cubozoans cultured in Germany, revealed that the Japanese populations were likely conspecific with Carybdea morandinii. Subsequent genetic analysis confirmed this identification. Morphology of Japanese medusae revealed that they were referable to the family Alatinidae Gershwin, 2005, and within that family to the genus Alatina Gershwin, 2005, rather than to the family Carybdeidae.

Box JellyfishAlatina alataHas a Circumtropical Distribution

“…Gershwin, 2005, 2006; Gershwin et al, 2009, 2013; Bentlage, 2010; Bentlage et al, 2010; Straehler-Pohl, 2011; Straehler-Pohl and Jarms, 2011; Kayal et al ., 2012, 2013; Smith et al, 2012; Bentlage and Lewis, 2012; Kingsford et al ., 2012; Yanagihara and Shohet, 2012; Chiaverano et al, 2013; Toshino et al, 2013, 2015; Carrette et al, 2014; Crow et al, 2015; Straehler-Pohl and Toshino, 2015…”

New records of two species of Cubozoa from Thailand

“…Alatina morandinii was described as Carybdea morandinii (Straehler-Pohl & Jarms 2011). However, the species was recently moved to the genus Alatina based on its morphology and molecular phylogenetic analyses (Straehler-Pohl & Toshino 2015). Alatina morandinii is a mysterious species because mature medusae have not yet been found in the wild.…”

Rediscovery and description of the cubomedusa <i>Alatina grandis</i> (Agassiz & Mayer, 1902) (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Alatinidae) from Pakistani waters

“…At present, there is no mature medusa specimen of Alatina morandinii available for examination, which would disqualify this species for comparison, but nontheless, the body size of this species is still very small (8 mm) when the development of gonads starts (Straehler-Pohl & Toshino 2015), too small to be conspecific with the Sonmiani material. The following species of the genus Alatina could also be excluded due to their peculiar body shapes or small body size in mature specimens: Alatina madraspatana, Alatina pyramis, Alatina tetraptera (Menon 1930, Haeckel 1880: Plate 25, Figs.…”

“…Campbell (1974: 142) stated that gonads in most cnidarians are not separate organs, as found in higher animals, because germ cells are generally found in interstitial portions of the body tissue which, prior to the formation of germ cells, exhibit no reproductive specialization. However, we follow Campbell (1974), Marques & Collins (2004), Bentlage et al (2010), Morandini & Marques (2010) and Straehler-Pohl & Toshino (2015) in using the term gonad to refer to areas where gametes are formed.…”