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

Sea almond (Terminalia catappa)

Ketapang or tropical almond or beach almond or talisay tree or umbrella tree or sea almond ( Terminalia catappa ) is a species of plant in the Combretaceae, a shady tree, fast growing, forming a multilevel canopy, often used as a shade tree in gardens and on roadsides. T. catappa grows large, up to 40 meters in height and up to 1.5 meters in trunk, shady canopy with branches that grow flat and terraced, young trees often look like pagodas while old and large trees often have aerial roots up to 3 meters. The leaves are scattered, mostly at the end of the twig, rounded egg upside down, 8-38 cm long, 5-19 cm wide, the tip is wide, the base is narrow, the upper surface is smooth, green but turns red if to fall out and short stalks. The flowers are small, collected near the tips of the twigs, 8-25 cm long and green-yellow in color. The flowers are not crowned, the petals have five taju, are plate or bell shaped, 4-8 mm long and are white or cream in color. Stamens in two circles and arra...
Read more

Asian foxtail (Uraria crinita)

Asian foxtail or cat's tail bean ( Uraria crinita ) is a species of plant in Fabaceae, a perennial, upright shrub with woody stems at least at the base, up to 2 meters high in forests, agricultural land, waterways, used as a medicinal herb, green manure and sometimes planted in the garden as an ornamental plant. U. crinita has elongated leaves, rounded base, pointed tip, a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, rough surface, dark green with white spots. Petiole short or less than 0.5 cm and brownish red. Compound flower in spike shape, purple and white triangular crown. Long flower stalk, erect, 15-20 cm long and only at the end of the flower. The crown slowly falls off and leaves behind a stalk that is shaped like coir or light yellow pads. Asian foxtail grows in dry grasslands, open forests, trash cans, roadsides, sandy areas and sometimes in deciduous forests, elevations of 0-1500 meters and does not grow in waterlogged places. The different parts are often used in t...
Read more

Kunu buti (Mesosphaerum suaveolens)

Kunu buti ( Mesosphaerum suaveolens ) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is an erect, herbaceous annual, growing up to 1.5 meters tall. Its cylindrical, rough, brown or green stem is hairy and white. It grows on forest floors, bushes, agricultural fields, and roadsides. Its roots are fibrous and brownish-yellow. M. suaveolens has single, opposite leaves, stalks 2-5 cm long and hairy. The leaf blades are green, hairy, oval, with pointed tips, blunt bases, serrated edges, up to 6 cm long, up to 5 cm wide, and pinnate veins. The flowers are compound, axillary, in clusters, perfect, and bisexual. The petals are attached, forming a tube, each tip elongated like a spine, soft, 3-10 mm long, and green. The corolla is attached, asymmetrically detached, 1-2 cm long, and purple. The fruit is single, hard, capsule-shaped, hairy on the surface, and green or brown in color. The seeds are round, small and blackish brown in color. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphyl...
Read more