Skip to main content

Integrative taxonomy reveals presence a new species West African mane jelly (Cyanea altafissura)

Integrative taxonomy reveals presence a new species West African mane jelly (Cyanea altafissura)

NEWS - A new species of Cyanea is described from samples collected in the Gulf of Guinea during 2017-2019. The species is a member of the nozakii group that has discontinuous radial septa and is characterized by, among other things, deeper rhopalial than velar marginal clefts, uniform papillose exumbrella, up to 200 tentacles per cluster and a dense network of anastomosing canals in a broad quadrate fold.

West African mane jelly (Cyanea altafissura) can be genetically distinguished from relatives in the ITS1 and COI regions as confirmed by several phylogenies and other analyses. This is the first record of a member of the nozakii group in the Atlantic Ocean and the first description of a genus Cyanea from the west coast of Africa and the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

Cyanea Péron & Lesueur (1810) currently includes 17 species and is the second largest number of valid and recognized species in the Semaeostomeae of Agassiz (1862), after Aurelia Lamarck (1816). Both genera are rarely reported from the South and East Atlantic, although they are widespread in coastal waters of the Northern Hemisphere and in the Indo-Pacific.

Both genera have been the subject of taxonomic confusion with their respective type species, Cyanea capillata (Linnaeus, 1758) and Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1758). It is practically impossible to draw distinctions between the various forms of Cyanea in the North Atlantic. Intergradational forms are common and many races are separated only geographically or by differences in coloration that are not entirely distinct and stable.

The only Cyanea species formally described from coastal waters of West Africa is Cyanea annasethe (Haeckel 1880) which was originally described as Desmonema annasethe Haeckel (1880) from specimens collected off the west coast of South Africa by Wilhelm Bleek in 1877.

Yusra Samsodien, Michael Brown and Mark Gibbons from the University of the Western Cape in Bellville collected specimens of the new species in this study at depths of 20-118 metres. The name altafissura refers to the relatively deep depth of the rhopalial fissure.

Analysis of the COI data revealed three monophyletic lineages supporting the separation of all known Cyanea species and C. altafissura. This divergence is consistent with the species divergence of many other Scyphozoa. The analysis places the West African species as the sister group to C. nozakii.

In contrast, analysis of the ITS1 data revealed two monophyletic lineages placing C. altafissura in its own lineage with C. capillata, C. rosea, C. tzetlinii and C. nozakii forming a monophyletic clade. In particular, the mitochondrial DNA sequence data showed less variation between the West African species and C. nozakii with both forming a monophyletic clade.

However, the nuclear DNA sequence data showed greater variation between C. altafissura and C. nozakii with C. altafissura as its own monophyletic group, sister to all other Cyanea species. This is partly because the pairwise genetic distance between West African Cyanea and other Cyanea species is higher for nuDNA (ITS1) than for mtDNA (COI).

Original research

Yusra Samsodien, Michael K. Brown and Mark J. Gibbons (2024). Integrative taxonomy reveals the presence of a new species of Cyanea (Scyphozoa: Discomedusae: Semaeostomeae: Cyaneidae) from the West coast of Africa. Zootaxa 5507 (3): 401-426, DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.5507.3.1

Dlium theDlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Bugang (Clerodendrum calamitosum)

Bugang ( Clerodendrum calamitosum ) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is an erect shrub, growing up to 1 meter tall, with cylindrical, green stems and white hairs. The leaves are opposite. The leaf blade is oval, wavy, with a central main vein with numerous pinnate minor veins, and serrated margins. The leaves are up to 9 cm long and 7 cm wide. The petiole is up to 2 cm long. The flowers are star-shaped, white, up to 3 cm in diameter and up to 6 cm in total length. The fruit is round, dark green, turning black when ripe. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Subfamily: Ajugoideae Genus: Clerodendrum L. in Sp. Pl.: 637 (1753) Species: Clerodendrum calamitosum L. in Mant. Pl. 1: 90 (1767) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Clerodendrum fastigiatum (W.Hunter ex Ridl.) H.J.Lam in Verben. Malay. Archip.: 317 (1919) Volkameria alternifolia Burm.f. in Fl. Indica: 137 (1768) Volkameria fastigiata W.Hunter...
Read more

Plumeria rubra and Plumeria obtusa, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - The genus frangipani trees ( Plumeria Tourn. ex L.) has only 18 officially recorded species and two very similar species, frangipani ( Plumeria rubra L.) and white frangipani ( Plumeria obtusa L.). Both have the same habitus, flowers and fruits and are difficult to distinguish. The leaves of both species have slightly different shapes. Therefore, the leaves are very important to distinguish the two species, especially the shape of the tip. P. rubra has simple, lanceolate leaves with acute tips. P. obtusa has simple, elliptic leaves with rounded tips. By Aryo Bandoro Founder of Dlium.com . You can follow him on X: @Abandoro . Read more: Plumeria rubra Plumeria obtusa
Read more

Common sun skink (Eutropis multifasciata)

Kadal kebun or bengkarung or Mabuya multifasciata or common sun skink ( Eutropis multifasciata ) is a species of lizard in Scincidae, has a pattern of faint lines extending to the sides of the body, measuring 18 to 22 cm in length with a tail length of about 60% of the overall body and more many live on the ground. E. multifasciata has a sharp head with a very short neck and a square cross section. The upper part is dark brown or shiny grayish brown with a golden body side especially near the neck. Sometimes also decorated with small pale spots on the back. The lower neck is light brown and the abdomen to the anus is pale brown. The muzzle is reddish, the tail is the same color as the body, decorated with a faint dark line on the sides. The arms are also the same color as the upper body. Common sun skinks usually live on the edge of forests, gardens, rice fields and human settlements. They spend most of their time on the ground, usually in crevices and rocky cliffs as a place t...
Read more