Integrative taxonomy reveals the presence of a new species of Cyanea (Scyphozoa: Discomedusae: Semaeostomeae: Cyaneidae) from the West coast of Africa

Zootaxa. 2024 Sep 13;5507(3):401-426. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5507.3.1.

Abstract

A new species of Cyanea is described from trawl samples collected in the Gulf of Guinea during 2017 and 2019. The species is a member of the nozakii-group, possessing interrupted radial septa, and is characterised by, inter alia, deeper rhopalial than velar marginal clefts, a uniformly papillose exumbrella, up to 200 tentacles per tentacle cluster and a dense network of anastomosing canals in broadly quadratic lappets. The species can be distinguished genetically from its congeners at both ITS1 and COI (minimum of 14.4% intergroup variation) regions as confirmed by multiple phylogenies and K2P analyses. This is the first record of a nozakii-group member in the Atlantic Ocean and the first description of the genus Cyanea from the west coast of Africa and the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

MeSH terms

  • Africa
  • Animal Distribution*
  • Animal Structures / anatomy & histology
  • Animal Structures / growth & development
  • Animals
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Body Size
  • Female
  • Invertebrates / anatomy & histology
  • Invertebrates / classification
  • Organ Size
  • Phylogeny*