Can Aurelia (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) species be differentiated by comparing their scyphistomae and ephyrae?

  • Maria Gambill Institute of Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science, University of Hamburg, Olbersweg 24,22767 Hamburg
  • Gerhard Jarms Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2014.107
Keywords: Polyps, jellyfish, strobilation, nomenclature, morphology

Abstract

Debate exists regarding the number of species of the moon jellyfish (genus Aurelia), a common member of the planktonic community of the coastal shelf seas around the world. Three Aurelia congeners (A. aurita, A. labiata and A. limbata) are currently considered to exist but recent genetic analyses suggested that this is an oversimplification. We analyzed the morphological characteristics of scyphistomae, morphological characteristics of ephyrae and differences in the time span of the strobilation process of Aurelia congeners from 17, 7 and 6 different source populations, respectively, of known species. Morphological characteristics of scyphistomae were similar among the 17 populations but those of ephyrae, such as the shape and form of lappets, were effective discriminators in the 6 cases examined. We recommend identifying species based on differences in 1) the morphological characteristics of scyphistomae and ephyrae (and not only medusae), 2) the genetics of individuals, and 3) the geographical occurrence of the population. This study adds to the growing body of knowledge on scyphozoan scyphistomae and ephyrae, stages of the metagenic life cycle of scyphozoans that have received relatively little study compared to medusae.

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Published
2014-12-26
How to Cite
Gambill, M., & Jarms, G. (2014). Can Aurelia (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) species be differentiated by comparing their scyphistomae and ephyrae?. European Journal of Taxonomy, (107). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2014.107
Issue
No. 107 (2014): Can Aurelia (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) species be differentiated by comparing their scyphistomae and ephyrae?
Section
Zoology
Copyright (c) 2014 Maria Gambill, Gerhard Jarms

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