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A New Species of Box Jellyfish, Carybdea Wayamba Sp. Nov

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Plankton Benthos Res 15(4): 317–326, 2020 Plankton & Benthos Research © The Plankton Society of Japan A new species of box jellyfish, Carybdea wayamba sp. nov. (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa: Cubomedusae: Carybdeidae) from Sri Lanka Krishan D. Karunarathne & M.D.S.T. de Croos* Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Faculty of Livestock, Fisheries and Nutrition, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Makandura, Gonawila (NWP), 60170, Sri Lanka Received 27 March 2020; Accepted 8 September 2020 Responsible Editor: Dhugal Lindsay doi: 10.3800/pbr.15.317 Abstract: A new species of box jellyfish, Carybdea wayamba sp. nov. is described here based on forty specimens collected from the south and northeast coasts of Sri Lanka, with the type location being Bonavista Reef, Galle Bay. This species is classified in the genus Carybdea due to the possession of a typical heart-shaped rhopaliar niche ostia with only one upper scale and epaulette-shaped gastric phacellae in the four corners of the stomach. This new species can be distinguished from other valid members of the genus Carybdea by the combination of the structure of the two velarial canal roots per octant with one broadly bi-forked velarial canal with narrow, lateral lobations on each root, and other morphological characters such as having typical knee-shaped pedalial canal bends without any appendages, and epaulette-shaped gastric phacellae with single-rooted, brush-shaped, multiple (three to five) short-stemmed, dendriti- cally branched (both short and long branches) gastric filaments. This is the first novel cubomedusa described from Sri Lankan waters; and the first Carybdea species described with material from the North Indian Ocean. Key words: Indian Ocean, morphology, nematocysts, taxonomy ilies; for example, Carybdea sivickisi Stiasny, 1926 has Introduction been moved to the family Tripedaliidae while changing The cubomedusae included many doubtful taxa until the its genus name to Copula (Bentlage et al. 2010). Gershwin beginning of the 21st century. In several studies over the (2005a) recognized that Carybdea alata Reynaud, 1830 last two decades, biologists have revised the taxonomy of was in fact a whole species complex and transferred them this group (Gershwin 2005a, b, 2006a, Bentlage et al. 2010, to a separate family, Alatinidae, while changing the genus Bentlage & Lewis 2012, Lewis et al. 2013, Straehler-Pohl name to Alatina (Gershwin 2005b) based on morphological 2014, 2019a, b, 2020, Straehler-Pohl & Gul 2017, Acevedo and phylogenic differences. Likewise, Carybdea stiasnyi et al. 2019), but there are still some uncertainties to be Bigelow, 1938 was also transferred to the family Alati- clarified. In the classification of box jellyfish, Carybdei- nidae, while changing the genus name to Manokia (Ger- dae is a monotypic family containing the genus Carybdea, shwin 2005b). Some species, such as Carybdea periphylla which represents the oldest genus of box jellyfish estab- Péron & Lesueur, 1810, Carybdea pisifera Oken, 1815, and lished by Péron & Lesueur (1810), which was subsequently Carybdea bitentaculata Quoy & Gaimard, 1833 were not misspelled (e.g. Charybdea), by several authors between even box jellies and had to be transferred into other taxo- Milne-Edwards (1833) and Mayer (1910), before the origi- nomic groups. nal name, Carybdea was re-established by Kramp (1961). Thereafter, only a few valid species remained in the The genus Carybdea previously contained a number of genus Carybdea, with Carybdea marsupialis (Lin- species that are now contained in other carybdeid fam- naeus, 1758) being the type species (Acevedo et al. 2019, Straehler-Pohl 2019b). Maas (1903, 1910), Bigelow (1909, * Corresponding author: M.D.S.T. de Croos; E-mail, dileepa_dc@yahoo. 1938), Mayer (1910), and Kramp (1961) considered most of com, [email protected] these Carybdea species as varieties of C. marsupialis, and 318 K. D. Karunarathne & M.D.S.T. de Croos Carybdea rastonii Haacke, 1886 (Straehler-Pohl et al. 2017, Straehler-Pohl 2019a); however, Bentlage et al. (2010) and Bentlage & Lewis (2012) revealed that these were not sub- species or varieties; but different species that dwell in dis- tinct geographical areas of the world (Acevedo et al. 2019). Of the few records on Carybdea in the Indian Ocean, a single specimen of cubomedusa found from the pearl banks of Sri Lanka was predicted to be an immature spec- imen of Charybdea grandis Agassiz & Mayer, 1902 by Browne (1905); however, he classified it to be uncertain. Stiasny (1931) re-inspected the museum specimen, and re- identified it as C. alata [currently Alatina alata (Reynaud, 1830)]. Charybdea madraspatana Menon, 1930 was origi- nally described from Madras, India and was reassigned as Alatina madraspatana (Menon, 1930) in the family Alatinidae by Gershwin (2005b). Recently, C. marsupialis was identified by Kazmi & Sultana (2008) off the coast of Pakistan but this was doubted by Gul et al. (2015) and was reclassified by Straehler-Pohl & Gul (2017) as Alatina grandis (Agassiz & Mayer, 1902). Hence, there is only one reliable record of a valid species belonging to the genus Carybdea occurring in the Indian Ocean so far – the spe- cies described by Gershwin & Gibbons (2009) as Caryb- dea branchi Gershwin & Gibbons, 2009 from the South African coast (from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town), that was later reclassified by Straehler-Pohl (2020) as Carybdea murrayana Haeckel, 1880. Fig. 1. Localities of Carybdea wayamba sp. nov. sampled along Sri Lanka is a tropical island located close to the equa- the coast of Sri Lanka (open circles): 1. Galle Bay [6.0278°N, 80.2289°E] (n=16); 2. Ambalantota [6.0964°N, 80.9937°E] (n=3); tor, between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal in 3. Irakkandi [8.7238°N, 81.1850°E] (n=20); 4. Alampil [9.1877°N, the Indian Ocean. As a country, this geographical loca- 80.8609°E] (n=1). tion has become crucial to ensure a highly diverse marine faunal resource exists within the region (Keesing & Irvine 2005, Karunarathne & de Croos 2020). Due to the lack of species were collected by a towed net (diameter 1 m, mesh studies carried out so far, knowledge on the scyphozoans size 1 mm) and a scoop net (mesh size 5 mm) from four lo- that dwell in Sri Lankan waters is poor (Karunarathne et cations along the south and northeast coasts of the country al. 2020). When considering the diversity of Sri Lankan (Fig. 1). Water quality parameters (temperature, dissolved cubomedusae, only five species have been recorded; out of oxygen, pH, salinity, total dissolved solids, and turbidity) them, Chiropsoides buitendijki (Van der Horst, 1907) was of each sampling locality were measured by using a digital reported by Fernando (2001, 2006) after the A. alata iden- multiparameter instrument (HACH HQ 40 D), and a por- tification by Stiasny (1931). Recently, two additional cubo- table turbidity meter (HACH 2100P). Coordinates of the medusae belonging to the genera Chironex and Tripedalia sampling locations were recorded with a GPS unit (GAR- have been found in Sri Lanka (unpublished data of au- MIN 72H). thors). A commonly found Carybdea species in the coastal Seven different morphometric features of all medusae waters of Sri Lanka has also been reported (Karunarathne were measured while fresh according to Gershwin (2005a, & de Croos 2018), and it is described herein as the novel b) and Straehler-Pohl (2014). Here, the distance between species, Carybdea wayamba sp. nov., the ninth valid spe- the apex and the turnover of the bell below the rhopalium cies in the genus Carybdea. This is the first Carybdea spe- was measured as the bell height (BH). The diagonal bell cies ever described not only from Sri Lanka, but also from width (DBW) was measured as the distance between outer the entire North Indian Ocean. keels of pedalial base by laying specimens flat with two pedalia spread out to the left and right sides, and the other two facing up and down in the centre. The inter-rhopa- Materials and Methods lial width (IRW) (from the rhopalium to another adjacent A systematic, year-round jellyfish survey was carried rhopalium) was measured after laying the specimens flat. out in the pelagic zone of the continental shelf of Sri Lanka Across the widest area of the pedalia, the ‘pedalial width’ from March 2017 to April 2018. Forty (38 mature + 2 (PW) was measured, while the distance between the base immature) specimens belonging to the new box jellyfish and the distal end of the pedalium was measured as the Carybdea wayamba n. sp. from the Indian Ocean 319 pedalial length (PL). canal without appendage. Velarial canal roots 2 per octant, Two additional features were defined and measured; the with a broad, rounded, bident canal with narrow, lateral distance from the apex to the rhopalium (DAR) and the lobations on each root, all canals are equal in shape and distance between the rhopalium and the turnover of the complexity. Manubrium short, about one-third of the bell bell (DRT). If there was more than one measurement on height. Gastric phacellae, epaulette-shaped with single- a single morphometric character per individual medusa, rooted, multiple (typically three to five) short-stemmed, i.e., two DBW, four IRW, four DAR, four DRT, four PW dendritically branched (both short and long branches), (if the pedalia were unbroken), and four PL (if the pedalia brush-shaped gastric filaments. were unbroken), average values of them were calculated. Description (mature medusa). Bell: with thin, flimsy All measurements were performed using a digital caliper mesoglea; small to medium in size, up to 29.0 mm in life, to the nearest 0.1 mm. nearly cuboidal, with dome-shaped apex, smooth appear- After recording the morphometric characteristics, sam- ance as both apex and bell lack prominent nematocyst ples were preserved in 5% formalin-seawater solution for warts in live specimens, however, there are microscopic taxonomic examinations.
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    Seasonality, Interannual Variation and Distribution of Carybdea Marsupialis (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) in the Mediterranean Coast: Influence of Human Impacts

    5th International Jellyfish Bloom Symposium Barcelona May 30 - June 3, 2016 Seasonality, interannual variation and distribution of Carybdea marsupialis (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) in the Mediterranean coast: influence of human impacts JBS-07 / Oral Presentation_05 Melissa J. Acevedo1, Antonio Canepa2, César Bordehore3, Mar Bosch-Belmar4, Cristina Alonso3, Sabrina Zappu5, Elia Durà3, Alan Deidun6, Stefano Piraino4, Albert Calbet1, Verónica Fuentes1 1 Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain 2 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile 3 Departamento de Ecología e Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio “Ramon Margalef” IMEM, Universidad de Alicante, Spain 4 Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies (DiSTeBA), University of Salento, Italy 5 Department of Environmental Sciences and Territory, University of Sassari, Italy 6 IOI – Malta Operational Centre, University of Malta, Malta This study addresses the seasonal and interannual variability in box jellyfish abundance for a population of Carybdea marsupialis monitored along the coast of Denia (NW Mediterranean, Spain). Environmental data and cubomedusae density have been monthly recorded from March 2010 to December 2013. Environmental variables registered included water temperature, salinity, nutrients concentration (i.e. DIN, phosphate and silicon), chlorophyll concentration and zooplankton abundance and composition. Generalized Additive Models (GAM) have been fitted to understand the relationships of aforementioned environmental variables and C. marsupialis abundance. Salinity and chlorophyll concentration have been reported as the most important variables influencing C. marsupialis abundance, as well as N and P concentrations. Also, LUSI (Land Use Simplified Index) showed a positive correlation with the presence of this box jellyfish; this index reflects the impact of nutrient inputs along the coast.
  • Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae: Cepheidae) from the Lebanese Waters in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

    Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae: Cepheidae) from the Lebanese Waters in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

    J. Black Sea/Mediterranean Environment Vol. 25, No. 2: 172-177 (2019) SHORT COMMUNICATION First record of Marivagia stellata Galil and Gershwin, 2010 (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae: Cepheidae) from the Lebanese waters in the eastern Mediterranean Sea Ghazi Bitar *, Ali Badreddine Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Lebanese University, Hadath, Beirut, LEBANON *Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract Marivagia stellata Galil and Gershwin, 2010 was reported for the first time from the Lebanese waters in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. This Indo-Pacific jellyfish was observed in 2015 during a field work. The present note reports its details in the Lebanese waters. Keywords: Indo-Pacific jellyfish, Marivagia stellata, Lebanese waters Received: 29.05.2019, Accepted: 29.06.2019 The Mediterranean Sea is severely affected by alien species: 986 exotic species are recorded in this basin, representing 6% of the total number of species. Interestingly, 775 of them are established in the eastern basin, mostly (88.4 %) from the Indo-Pacific and tropical Atlantic, and 108 are considered as invasive (Zenetos et al. 2010; 2012). In particular, new invasions of jellyfish are increasingly reported in the Mediterranean Sea in recent years: 13 invasive species which represent 3% of the known jellyfish species in the Mediterranean Sea were reported (Brotz and Pauly 2012; Mizrahi et al. 2015; Oztürk et al. 2018; Mamish et al. 2019). Since the opening of the Suez Canal, the Lebanese waters have been colonized by many exotic species, especially from the Red Sea. Concerning jellyfish, two lessepsian species have been recorded in the Lebanese waters (Lakkis 2013): Rhopilema nomadica (Brotz and Pauly 2012) and Cassiopea andromeda (Forsskål, 1775).