Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T02:20:31.057Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

First report of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora (Cubozoa: Tripedaliidae) in the continental USA, from Lake Wyman, Boca Raton, Florida

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2011

Evan R. Orellana  and
Allen G. Collins
Evan R. Orellana*
Affiliation:
Gumbo Limbo Nature Centre, 1801 North Ocean Boulevard, Boca Raton, FL 33432, USA
Allen G. Collins
Affiliation:
NMFS, National Systematics Laboratory, National Museum of Natural History, MRC-153, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: E.R. Orellana, Gumbo Limbo Nature Centre, 1801 North Ocean Boulevard, Boca Raton, FL 33432, USA email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

A male specimen of Tripedalia cystophora (Cubozoa: Tripedaliidae) was collected from Lake Wyman, Boca Raton, Florida, USA. This is the first report of this species from the continental United States and brings the total known number of cubozoan species living in this region to four. Lake Wyman is a natural lagoon/estuary ecosystem which is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The box jellyfish was found in shallow water around the roots of the red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle, where it was observed feeding on copepods attracted to light. This finding may indicate a local population in the waters of south Florida, USA, but an isolated occurrence cannot be ruled out.

Keywords

Cubomedusae
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 4 , December 2011 , e54
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

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

REFERENCES

Bentlage, B., Cartwright, P., Yanagihara, A.A., Lewis, C., Richards, G.S. and Collins, A.G. (2010) Evolution of box jellyfish (Cnidaria: Cubozoa), a group of highly toxic invertebrates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 277, 493–501.Google Scholar
Calder, D.R. (2009) Cubozoan and scyphozoan jellyfishes of the Carolinian biogeographic province, southeastern USA. Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada.Google Scholar
Coates, M.M. (2003) Visual ecology and functional morphology of Cubozoa (Cnidaria). Integrative and Comparative Biology 43, 542–548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collins, A.G., Bentlage, B., Gillan, W., Lynn, T.H., Morandini, A.C. and Marques, A.C. (2011) Naming the Bonaire banded box jelly, Tamoya ohboya, n. sp. (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Carybdeida: Tamoyidae). Zootaxa 2753, 53–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conant, F.S. (1897) Notes on the Cubomedusae. Johns Hopkins University Circulars 132, 8–10.Google Scholar
Daly, M., Brugler, M.R., Cartwright, P., Collins, A.G., Dawson, M.N., France, S.C., McFadden, C.S., Opresko, D.M., Rodriguez, E., Romano, S. and Stake, J. (2007) The Phylum Cnidaria: a review of phylogenetic patterns and diversity 300 years after Linnaeus. Zootaxa 1668, 127–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gershwin, L.A. (2005) Taxonomy and phylogeny of Australian Cubozoa. PhD thesis. School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.Google Scholar
Migotto, A.E., Marques, A.C., Morandini, A.C. and Silveira, F.L. da (2002) Checklist of the Cnidaria Medusozoa of Brazil. Biota Neotropica 21–31. http://www.biotaneotropica.org.brGoogle Scholar
Nilsson, D.E., Gislen, L., Coates, M.M., Skogh, C. and Garm, A. (2005) Advanced optics in a jellyfish eye. Nature 435, 201–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Östman, C. (2000) A guideline to nematocyst nomenclature and classification, and some notes on the systematic value of nematocysts. Scientia Marina 64, Supplement 1, 31–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, S. (1996) Field behavior of Tripedalia cystophora (Class Cubozoa). Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology 27, 175–188.Google Scholar
Werner, B. (1973) Spermatozeugmen und Paarungsverhalten bei Tripedalia cystophora (Cubomedusae). Spermatozeugmata and mating behavior in Tripedalia cystophora (Cubomedusae). Marine Biology 18, 212–217. [In German, with English abstract.]CrossRefGoogle Scholar