Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T17:47:24.528Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

New Observations on a Rare Physonect Siphonophore, Lychnagalma Utricularia (Claus, 1879)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

P.R. Pugh
Affiliation:
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Natural Environment Research Council, Brook Road, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5UB
G. R. Harbison
Affiliation:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass 02543, U.S.A.

Extract

A rare physonect siphonophore, Lychnagalma utricularia (Claus, 1879), is redescribed from 24 specimens collected in the region of the Bahamas by the submersible D.S.R.V. ‘Johnson-Sea-Link II’. It was the most common siphonophore collected by the submersible, using its sophisticated sampling techniques. The paucity of previous records for the species, and thus its apparent rarity, is probably due to the extreme fragility of the animals which causes them to disintegrate on contact with nets. The status of the second species, L. vesicularia Haeckel, 1888, is reviewed and it is concluded that it should be reduced to a junior synonym of L. utricularia.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bedot, M., 1896. Les siphonophores de la baie d'Amboine. Etude suivie d'une revision de la famille des Agalmidae. Revue suisse de zoologie, 3, 367–114.Google Scholar
Biggs, D. C., 1977. Field studies of fishing, feeding, and digestion in siphonophores. Marine Behaviour and Physiology, 4, 261274.Google Scholar
Bidigare, R. R. & Biggs, D. C., 1980. The role of sulfate exclusion in buoyancy maintenance by siphonophores and other oceanic gelatinous zooplankton. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 66A, 467–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casanova, J.-P., 1980. Campagnes du ‘Meteor’ dans l'Atlantique N-E. Siphonophores, Meduses et Thecosomes. Distribution verticale et comparaisons faunistiques avec le Mediterranee. ‘Meteor’ Forschungsergebnisse (reihe D), no. 32, 1532.Google Scholar
Claus, C., 1879. Agalmopsis utricularia, eine neue Siphonophore des Mittelmeeres. Arbeiten aus den Zoologischen Instituten der Universitdt Weinu. der Zoologischen Station in Triest, 2, 199201.Google Scholar
Fewkes, J. W., 1882. Exploration of the surface fauna of the Gulf Stream. Notes on the Acalephs from the Tortugas, with a description of new genera and species. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, 9, 251289.Google Scholar
Haeckel, E., 1888. Report on the Siphonophorae collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–1876. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger (Zoology), 28, 380 pp.Google Scholar
Harbison, G. R., Biggs, D. C. & Madin, L., 1977. The associations of Amphipoda Hyperiidea with gelatinous zooplankton-II. Associations with Cnidaria, Ctenophora and Radiolaria. Deep-Sea Research, 24, 465488.Google Scholar
Purcell, J. E., 1980. Influence of siphonophore behavior on their natural diets: evidence for aggressive mimicry. Sxignce, New York, 209, 10451047.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Totton, A. K., 1965. A Synopsis of the Siphonophora. London: British Museum (Natural History).Google Scholar
Youngbluth, M. J., 1984. Water column ecology: in situ observations of marine zooplankton from a manned submersible. Occasional Papers in Biology. Memorial University of Newfoundland, 9, 4557.Google Scholar