Naming the Bonaire banded box jelly, Tamoya ohboya, n. sp. (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Carybdeida: Tamoyidae)

A new species of cubozoan jellyfish has been discovered in shallow waters of Bonaire, Netherlands ( Dutch Caribbean). Thus far, approximately 50 sightings of the species, known commonly as the Bonaire banded box jelly, are recorded, and three specimens have been collected. Three physical encounters between humans and the species have been reported. Available evidence suggests that a serious sting is inflicted by this medusa. To increase awareness of the scientific disciplines of systematics and taxonomy, the public has been involved in naming this new species. The Bonaire banded box jelly, Tamoya ohboya, n. sp., can be distinguished from its close relatives T. haplonema from Brazil and T. sp. from the southeastern United States by differences in tentacle coloration, cnidome, and mitochondrial gene sequences. Tamoya ohboya n. sp. possesses striking dark brown to reddish-orange banded tentacles, nematocyst warts that densely cover the animal, and a deep stomach. We provide a detailed comparison of nematocyst data from Tamoya ohboya n. sp., T. haplonema from Brazil, and T. sp. from the Gulf of Mexico.

Taxonomic review of Haliclystus antarcticus Pfeffer, 1889 (Stauromedusae, Staurozoa, Cnidaria), with remarks on the genus Haliclystus Clark, 1863

Difficulties concerning the taxonomy of stauromedusae are long known, and there is a clear need for taxonomic revision of the genus Haliclystus, as well as the reevaluation of some species. Haliclystus antarcticus Pfeffer, 1889 is recorded from Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Due to the lack of detailed information on this species, we provide a redescription, presenting new data on the cnidome, morphometry, geographical distribution and intraspecific variation. Based on these characters, we propose that our specimens and Haliclystus auricula from Chile and Argentina are synonymous and should be classified as H. antarcticus. We also review the worldwide distribution of the genus Haliclystus Clark, 1863 and discuss taxonomic issues, concluding that some characters traditionally used in the taxonomy of the group should be used cautiously.

Hydrocoryne iemanja (Cnidaria), a new species of Hydrozoa with unusual mode of asexual reproduction

Hydrocoryne iemanja sp. nov. was found in an aquarium, growing on rhodoliths of coralline algae collected on the southeastern coast of Brazil (20 degrees 40`S 40 degrees 2`W). The colonies were reared through maturity in the laboratory. Each colony had up to 7 sessile, long and thin monomorphic zooids, very extensible and flexible, arising from a chitinous, hard dark-brown plate with minute spines. Medusae budded from near the basal part of hydrocaulus, and were released in immature condition, acquiring fully developed interradial gonads 5-7 days after release. Asexual reproduction by longitudinal fission was observed on the hydrocaulus of the polyps, both for those in normal condition and those with injuries. Fission started at the oral region, extending aborally, with a new hard plate formed in the basal part of hydrocaulus. When fission reached the new hard plate, the new polyp detached, becoming free and sinking to the bottom, starting a new colony. Detached polyps were morphologically indistinguishable from other polyps, being able to produce medusae. Mother and daughter polyps undertook subsequent fissions. This mode of longitudinal fission is distinct from other modes of longitudinal fission, a process known for a few species Of cnidarians. Further studies of this process may shed light on the understanding of the evolutionary pathways in Cnidaria and animals. Hydrocoryne iemanja sp. nov. is distinguishable from its two congeners by the distinct marginal tentacles of the medusae-short and with a median nematocyst knob-an unambiguous character useful even for the identification Of newly liberated medusae.

Studies on Australian hydroids : the genus Eudendrium and the fauna of the seagrass Amphibolis

An important Athecate genus, Eudendrium, and a group of species of the Thecata, the latter ecologically related by life on a common substrate, are reviewed. Eudendrium, hitherto poorly known in Australia, comprises 17 species, including 10 undescribed species with 71% Australian, and high provincial endemicity. Eudendrium may be a shelf genus avoiding turbulent oceanic waters. Species of Eudendrium are predominantly epizoic and some gregariously settling colonies may live for five years. Identification of sterile material is refined by using the cnidome in a key to classification. The species and population dynamics of hydroid epiphytes of the endemic southern Australian marine angiosperm Amphibolis were investigated with revision of historically vexatious taxa. In contrast with the northern hemisphere, no Athecata are associated with southern Australian seagrasses. Seventeen species from eight thecate families are associated with the two species of Amphibolis, including one undescribed species, H&lecium amphibolum, and one new record for Australia, Aglaophenia postdentata. The Lineolariidae is revised and a new genus, Millardaria, erected for a species from seagrass in Madagascar. The high endemicity (58%) and host-specificity of hydroids to Amphibolis is an evolutionary consequence of isolation of the seagrass dating from break-up of the Tethyan Sea. Hydroids occur throughout the year in the Amphibolis leaf canopy with a mean annual epiphytism of 44% on A. antarctica in the eastern continent and 86% in the western continent; epiphytism is 52% on A. griffithii in the western continent. Half of the eight important species are dominant epiphytes across the southern continent but the species and order of abundance varies regionally. Most are pioneer colonists with short, repetetive life-cycles lasting from weeks to a few months. Three species epiphytise the seagrass stems but only one is a leaf-canopy dominant. The canopy community comprises small, fast-growing species or dwarfed variants of species larger in other habitats: these ecomorphically constant forms are associated only with seagrass. Strategies for survival in the harsh Amphibolis environment include adnate colonies and gonothecae adnate or recumbent to the substrate, marked strengthening of the hydrorhiza, various hydrodynamic adaptations of the hydrotheca, early maturation and production of numerous small ova.

Occurrence of Isarachnanthus (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Ceriantharia) at Ascension Island: a test of hypothesis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A new species of Pachycerianthus (cnidaria, Anthozoa, Ceriantharia) from Tropical Southwestern Atlantic

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)