A Stalked Jellyfish 'Stenoscyphus inabai' (Kishinouye, 1893) (Stauromedusae), found at the Jawbone, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria

2013·1.6 MB·English

by  Audrey Falconer

Contributions
A Stalked Jellyfish Stenoscyphus inabai (Kishinouye, 1893)
(Stauromedusae), found at The Jawbone, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria
AudreyFalconer
• POBox3177,Murrumbeena, Victoria3163
Abstract
ThestauromedusaStenoscyphus inabai is reported fromTheJawbone, Port Phillip Bayandcomparisons are
madewithpreviousobservationsmadeinthe 1980satBlackRock,PortPhillipBay,withcommentsonhabi-
tatandfood sources. Analysisisperformedondeformityratesandcompared withpreviousdeformityrates
reported in Stauromedusae. Colour images ofthis species are published. (The VictorianNaturalist 130(5) 2013,
202-207).
Keywords: Stauromedusa, Jawbone,Stenoscyphusinabai
In 1989 Dan Mclnnes published an interest- were retained for photography; as the eleventh
ingNaturalist Note in The VictorianNaturalist, wasdamaged, Ireleaseditwhereitwasfound.
(Mclnnes 1989). His note wasabouthis obser- Robert Burn collected a twelfth specimen
vationsofaStauromedusaspecies,identifiedas some 10 metres away, also on Z. muelleri (Fig.
mm
Stenoscyphus inabai (Kishinouye, 1893),which 1). This was a 20 specimen with a much
hecollectedatBlackRockandobservedingreat greener colour and a much greater number of
detail over its life cycle, from small juveniles anchors and secondary tentacle groups (16 in-
(0.5 mm) in February-April to mature adults stead of8) and rows ofgonads (8 pairs instead
(max.23mm) fromOctobertoDecember.Dan of4)(Fig.2A,B).Thepresenceofthisspecimen
noted that while smaller specimens had firm, gave rise to discussion that could be resolved
round, tubular stalks, the mature adults flat- onlybyexaminationoffurthermaterial.
tened like a flat bicycle tube. His specimens Accordingly,on 7July2012asecondvisitwas
were collected from the weed Cystophora ex- made to the Jawbone by Robert Burn, Melanie
pansa (Areschoug)Womersley, aspecieswhich Mackenzie,LeonAltoffandtheauthor,withthe
is seasonal in growth and is entirely absent in intention of finding more of these animals. It
DecemberandJanuary,leadingDantoraisethe wasacoldclearsunnydaywithanexcellentlow
question: how does S. inabai survive when its tide, andtheStauromedusae couldbeseen eas-
habitatisabsent? ilyintheshallowstillwater, attachedtoZostera
I have recently taken an interest in Stau- muelleri(Figs.3andbackcover).Intotal,about
romedusae, having collected two single speci- 25specimenswerefound, almostalladultswith
mensoverthelast10years.Ihavecorresponded gonads.Thecolourofspecimensvariedconsid-
with Claudia Mills at the University ofWash- erably more than in those seen in April and it
ington (Mills 2012) and examined the small wasagreedthatthebrightgreenspecimenfrom
collection of Stauromedusae available in Mu- Aprilfellwithinthecolourrangeofthespecies.
seum Victoria. Iwastherefore delightedwhen, Fifteenspecimens (Fig. 4) wereselectedtobe
on 11 April2012 on aField Naturalists Club of examined moreclosely. Arangeofcolourswas
Victoria (FNCV) Marine Research Group ex- selected,asweretheonlytwojuveniles(8and9
cursion, I collected 11 specimens ofS. inabai mm,with novisible gonads) seenand alladult
thatwerelivingonZostera muelleri, Irmischex specimens (14-24 mm), which appeared to be
Ascherson 1867atTheJawbone,Williamstown. ‘fatter’ than normal. Ofthe 15 specimens, 12
mm
The 11 specimens were ofa range ofsizes, in- had 8 anchors and tentacle groups, the 9
cluding juveniles from 3.5 mm to 8 mm, two juvenile (Fig. 2 G, H) had 9 anchors (which
specimens (15 mm and 17 mm) being mature wereverysmallanddifficulttocount), andap-
with visible gonads, and a third specimen ofa peared to be recovering from damage with a
maturesize (15 mm) which didnotexhibit de- missing peduncle and a slit down one side of
velopedgonads.Tenofthesespecimens(Fig. 1) the umbrella. A 22 mm specimen had 10 an-
202 TheVictorian Naturalist
Contributions
NMV
Fig. 1.StenoscyphusinabaispecimenscollectedinApril2012, F190059-F190063.
chors and tentacle groups (Fig. 2 E, F) and a deeperwater, therewere luxuriantbedsofHet-
mm
20 specimen had 12 anchors and tentacle erozosteranigricaulis(Kuo2005)whichseemed
groups (Fig. 2C, D,Fig. 5). tobecompletelydevoid ofStauromedusae.
AfinalvisittotheJawboneon4August2012, Onefinalobservationfromthisdaywasofone
mm
in poor weather, yielded a 12 juvenile specimen ofthe sessile ctenophore, Coeloplana
specimen, which was used for live nematocyst willeyi Abbott, 1902, observed in the field on
observations. thesameseagrassastheStauromedusae.Asec-
Intotal,38specimenshavebeenseenandthree ond,partiallydigested,specimenwasfoundin-
ofthem(7.9%)haveclearlyvisibleadditionalan- side theumbrella ofoneoftheStauromedusae.
chors and tentacle groups, matched with addi- Also found in the collectingjarwere two small
tional rows ofgonads, givingperfect pentamer- crustaceancarapaces. This suggests that C. wil-
ous,hexamerousandoctameroussymmetry. leyi, in addition to small crustaceans, is a po-
Zagal (2008) observedthat ofthe 3790 speci- tentialfoodsourceforStauromedusae.
mens ofthe stauromedusa Haliclystusantarcti- These animals have all been identified as S.
cusPfeffer,1889[asHaliclystusauricula(Rathke, inabai (Kishinouye, 1893) and not Depastro-
1806) (Miranda etal. 2009)] she examined, 16 morphaafricana Carlgren, 1935,sinceall spec-
specimens (0.4%) exhibited pentamerous or imens lack the remnant primary tentacle and
hexamerous symmetry. She has suggested that glandularcushionsontheoutertentacles.
the cause may be either environmental or due Examination of discharged live nematocysts
toalackofgeneticdiversityinthepopulation. andcomparisonwith thetableofundischarged
Interestingly, immediately next to the some- nematocysts published in Zagal etal. (2011) is
whatsparse beds ofZosteramuelleri, inslightly notinconsistentwiththisidentification.
Vol 130 (5) 2013 203
Contributions
Fig. 2. Deformities ofStenoscyphus inabai. A, B Adult specimen, 20 mm, April 2012, NMV FI90063; Note
octameroussymmetry.C,DAdultspecimen,20mm,July2012,NMVFI92289;Notehexameroussymmetry.
E,FAdultspecimen,22mm,July2012,NMVFI92289;Notepentameroussymmetry.G,HJuvenilespecimen,
9mm,July2012,NMVFI92289;Notepresenceof9anchorsandtentacleclusters,andevidenceofdamageto
bellandmissingpeduncle.
204 TheVictorianNaturalist
Contributions
Fig. 3. Specimen ofStenoscyphus inabai in natural
habitatonZosteramuelleriJuly2012.
mm mm NMV
FFi1g9.004.59D.evCe-lEop1m5emntmalsusbt-agaedsulotf,SAtperniols2c0y1p2h.usNiMnaVbaiF.19A0.036.25.C.Wjhuovleneilaen.imB.al8.D.Nojutveennielme,atAopcryilst20c1lu2s,ters.E.
Notethebeginningsofthedevelopmentofthegonadsandhowcircularthebellis. F-HAdultspecimens(15
mm [NMVFI90061] and 17mm [NMVF190060])withvisiblegonadsandthe“deflatedbicycletyre”appear-
ance.Notethat8anchorsareclearlyvisible.Bar= 1 mm.
Vol 130 (5) 2013 205
Contributions
Fig. 6. Specimen ofStenoscyphus inabai exhibiting
mm
leech-likemovement. (15 adultspecimen,April
NMV
2012, F190061).
ities, it can effect a locomotion very much like
thatofaleech’ (Fig.3,backcoverandFig. 6).
I ampleased to presenthere somelivecolour
imagesofthisspecies’development,behaviour,
habitat anddeformities.
SupplementaryNote
Subsequent to the completion ofthis paper, a
Fig. 5. A view ofthe subumbrellar or inner side of further specimen was observed and photo-
thebellinanevertedpositionshowinga)Secondary
tentacles,b) Anchors,c) Nematocystclusters andd) graphed by Trevor McMurrich in November
Four-lobedmouth(bar= 1.0mm). (SourceMclnnes 2012atCurlewis, OuterCorio Bay, Port Phillip
(1989:89). Bay. The specimen was found on the seagrass,
All specimens collected in April have been Heterozostera nigricaulis (Kuo 2005) in 50 cm
photographed in detail and preserved in 96% ofwaterandwasrelocatedto arocktobepho-
ethanol to allow for future DNA studies. They tographed. It exhibited a vibrant green shade
have been lodged with Museum Victoria in verysimilartotheoctamericspecimen collect-
accordance with the FNCV Marine Research edinApril2012 attheJawbone. Thisspecimen
Groupscollectingpermit,registrationnumbers exhibitednormalsymmetry.
NMVF190059-NMVF190063. Acknowledgements
The deformed specimens collected in July IwouldliketothankRobertBurnandMelanieMac-
havebeen photographed andpreserved in96% kenziefortheirassistancewith collectingspecimens,
ethanol andlodged with theMuseum Victoria, Claudia Mills for the many emails about these ani-
registrationnumberNMVF192289. minaelst,heJenaenmeattteocWyasttss,onJofhonrtKeuaochfionrgkminedlhyoswentdoienxgamme-
Dan Mclnnes question as to where they go his paperon Heterozostera, Hugh Kirkman forcon-
when their habitat is not present still lacks a firmingthespeciesofseagrasspresentattheJawbone
definite answer. The full life stages of Stau- and,finally, LeonAltoffforkneelingforlongperiods
romedusae remain little known and the story iinmavgeersy.cIoaildsowatthearniknTtrheevomridMdclMeuorfrwiicnhtefrortohicsaipnttuerre-
ofthe ‘hydropolyp without tentacles’, Microhy- estingobservationatCurlewis.
drula limopsicola (JarmsandTiemann 1996) is
References
instructive (Miranda etal. 2010). Specimens of JarmsGandTiemannH(1996)Onanewhydropolypwith-
this species, collected on living bivalve shells out tentacles, Microhydrula limopsicola n.sp., epibiotic
fromtheSouth ShetlandIslandson24Decem- o1n09b-i1v1a5l.ve shellsfrom theAntarctic. ScientiaMarina 60,
ber 1991 and maintained as a live colony ever Kishinouye K (1902) Some new Scyphomedusae ofJapan.
isningcteo(galftaesrsassuerxfuaaclesl)y rweeprreodsuhcoiwnngtaondbemiognrlayt-a KuJaocoeuaJren()a2.l0A0oq5fu)tahAteicCroeBlvolietsgaieonnyofo8Sf1ctih9een7c-ge1e4Tn0ou.ksyHoet1e7r,oz1-o1s7t.era(Zoster-
phase ofthe life cycle ofastauromedusa when Mclnnes DE (1989) A Sta,lked Jellyfish (Stauromedusae)
DNA analysis was performed and the species foundatBlackRock,PortPhillipBay.AfirstRecordingin
Australia.TheVictorianNaturalist106 86-92.
synonymised with Halicystus antarcticus Pfef- Mills CE (2012) Stauromedusae: list o,f all valid species
fer, 1889 (Mirandaetal.2010). names. Electronic internet document available at http://
faculty.washington.edu/cemills/Staurolist.html. Published
Finally, Kishinouye (1902: 5) notes: ‘As the bytheauthor,webpageestablishedOctober1999,lastup-
bodyhasadhesiveapparatusatbothitsextrem- dated29March2012.
MirandaLS,CollinsAGandMarquesAC(2010)Molecules
206 TheVictorianNaturalist
/
Contributions
ClarityaCnidarian LifeCycle -The“Hydrozoan”Micro- theUnitedKingdom88,259-262.
hydrulalimopsicolaIsanEarlyLifeStageoftheStaurozoan Zagal CJ, Hirano YM, Mills CE, Edgar GJ and Barrett NS
Haliclystusantarcticus. PLoSONE5:e10182. doi:10.1371/ (2011)NewrecordsofStaurozoafrom Australiancoastal
journal.pone.0010182. waters,with adescriptionofa newspecies ofLucernari-
MirandaLS,Morandini ACandMarquesAC(2009)Taxo- opsisUchida, 1929(Cnidaria, Staurozoa, Stauromedusae)
nomicreviewofHaliclystusantarcticusPfeffer,1889(Stau- and a key to Australian Stauromedusae. Marine Biology
romedusae,Staurozoa,Cnidaria),withremarksonthege- Research7,651-666.
nusHaliclystusClark, 1863.PolarBiology32,1507-1519.
Zagal CJ (2008) Morphological abnormalities in the stau-
romedusa Haliclystus auricula (Cnidaria) and their pos-
siblecauses.JournaloftheMarineBiologicalAssociationof Received14March2013;accepted4July2013
Release or retain? Prioritising biodiversityconservation when
deciding the endpoint forVictorian reptiles and frogs
removed from the wild for research purposes
NickClemann
ArthurRylahInstituteforEnvironmentalResearch,DepartmentofEnvironmentandPrimaryIndustries
POBox137,Heidelberg,Victoria3084
Abstract
Oneofseveralpossibleendpointsforanimalsremovedfromthewildforresearchpurposesistoreturnthose
animals (ortheirprogeny) tothewild. However, thisendpointinvolvesriskstowildpopulationsthatcanbe
damaging,suchasbehavioural problems orfailuretolocatesuitableresources, orevencatastrophic, suchas
theintroduction orspreadofpathogensanddisease. Whilst theriskofpathogen transfercanbelowforany
givenrelease,theconsequenceswhenitdoesoccurcanbeextreme.Riskssuchastransferringnoveloremerg-
ingpathogensfromcaptivitytowildpopulationscanoccurbeforepathogensareknowntooccur.Thissitua-
tionoccurredwiththeintroduction toAustraliaoftheamphibian diseasechytridiomycosis,whichprobably
enteredwildpopulationsviainfectedcaptivefrogsbeforethepathogenthatcausesthediseasewasidentified.I
arguethatreptilesandfrogsremovedfromthewildinVictoriashouldnotbereturnedtothewild,anddiscuss
somealternativeendpointsfortheseanimals.(TheVictorianNaturalist130(5)2013,207-211).
Keywords: research,reptiles,frogs, release,retain
Biodiversity is under increasing pressure a permit to allow them to collect reptiles and
around the world (Butchart et al. 2010), and or frogs within Victoria for research purposes.
reptiles(Gibbonsetal.2000;Sinervoetal.2010; Typically, these applications fall into one of
Bohm etal. 2013) and amphibians (McCallum two categories: those for which returning the
2007) are conspicuous components of global animalstothewildisanintegralcomponentof
biodiversityloss. Infact,lossofamphibiansdue the experimental design, and those for which
to the disease chytridiomycosis, caused by the there is no research need to return animals to
Amphibian Chytrid Fungus Batrachochytrium thewild. Itisimportanttodistinguish between
dendrobatidis over the last few decades has returninganimalstothewildattheconclusion
,
been labelled ‘the most spectacularloss ofver- ofaresearchproject(thesubjectofthispaper),
tebrate biodiversity due to disease in recorded versus the numerous wildlife management
history’ (Skerratt et al. 2007: 125). Protection projects involving animal releases that occur
and restoration ofbiodiversity is the primary in Victoria and have Management Authorisa-
objectiveofconservation agencies. tions under the Wildlife Act 1975. These latter
Numerous researchers (> 12 in 2012; au- projects must meet strict criteria and have ap-
thor’s unpublished data) apply to the Victo- propriate approvals, and the issues addressed
rian DepartmentofEnvironment and Primary inthispaperaretypicallyconsideredandman-
Industries (DEPI) (formerly Department of aged duringthoseprojects.
Sustainability and Environment) each year for
Vol 130 (5) 2013 207