Corymorpha gracilis (Brooks)

Nagata, Renato Mitsuo, Júnior, Miodeli Nogueira & Haddad, Maria Angélica, 2014, Faunistic survey of Hydromedusae (Cnidaria, Medusozoa) from the coast of Paraná State, Southern Brazil, Zootaxa 3768 (3), pp. 291-326 : 299-300

Corymorpha gracilis (Brooks)

( Fig. 9 )

References consulted. Vannucci 1957: 41–43. Kramp 1961: 40 (as Euphysora gracilis ). Goy 1979: 269–270, fig. 2 (as E. gracilis ). Correia 1983: 57–58, fig. 9 (as E. gracilis ). Pagès et al. 1992: 20, fig. 18 (as E. gracilis ). Bouillon 1999: 418, fig. 3.56 (as E. gracilis ). Tronolone 2001: 42–45, figs 9 A– B. Tronolone 2007: 43–44, figs 2.12–2.13.

Material. Municipality of Pontal do Paraná, Balneário de Praia de Leste (25º48’10”S – 48º04’90”W): 01/12/ 1997 — 20 specimens; (25º50’25”S – 47º55’80”W): 01/12/1997 — 7 specimens; (25º48’10”S – 48º04’90”W): 23/01/ 1998 — 1 specimen; (25º50’25”S – 47º55’80”W): 23/01/1998 — 1 specimen; (25º48’10”S – 48º04’90”W): 02/10/ 1998 — 7 specimens; (25º50’25”S – 47º55’80”W): 02/10/1998 — 24 specimens; (25º50’25”S – 7º55’80”W): 28/10/ 1998 — 4 specimens; (25º48’10”S – 48º04’90”W): 25/11/1998 — 1 specimen; (25º50’25”S – 47º55’80”W): 25/11/ 1998 — 1 specimen; (25º46’32”S – 48º12’15”W): 22/01/1999 — 1 specimen; (25º46’32”S – 48º12’15”W): 24/02/ 1999 — 1 specimens; (25º48’10”S – 48º04’90”W): 24/02/1999 — 3 specimens; (25º50’25”S – 47º55’80”W): 24/02/ 1999 — 1 specimen.

Reference specimens deposited. Dzoo-Cn 246, 1 specimen. MZUSP 1508, 10 specimens. MZUSP 1519, 17 specimens. MZUSP 1515, 1 specimen.

World distribution. Atlantic Ocean ( Bouillon 1999), on the eastern side in the Benguela Current ( Pagès et al. 1992), and on the western side, from North Carolina ( USA), to the mouth of the River Plate ( Kramp 1961; Goy 1979).

Distribution in Brazil. Pernambuco State ( Goy 1979), from the state of Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul (Migotto et al. 2002), and also within estuaries (Navas-Pereira 1980; Montú & Cordeiro 1988; Nogueira 2012).

Description. Dome-shaped umbrella, with pointed apical process, of variable size, and apical canal. Juvenile and mature specimens 0.25–6.25 mm in height, including the apical process. Four radial canals with circular canal. Manubrium large, cylindrical, almost filling the subumbrellar cavity ( Fig. 9 ). A single gonad around the manubrium. Four tentacular bulbs, orange to brown, two of them rudimentary and without tentacles. Of the remaining two bulbs, one bears a long moniliform tentacle, opposite to a short and conical tentacle.

Systematic remarks. The systematics of the family Corymorphidae is controversial. Vannucci (1957) mentioned that Corymorpha gracilis should be placed in Euphysora Maas , at the suggestion of K. W. Petersen, as followed in later studies (e.g., Vannucci 1963; Moreira 1973; Navas-Pereira 1981). However, Petersen (1990) divided the family in two genera: Euphysa Forbes and Corymorpha Sars , the latter including the genera Euphysora , Vannuccia Brinckmann-Voss , Gotoea Uchida , and Steenstrupia Forbes. The present report, as do other recent studies ( Tronolone 2001, 2007; Migotto et al. 2002; Schuchert 2013; Nogueira 2012), follows the classification of Petersen (1990). However, other authors such as Pagès et al. (1992), Bouillon (1999), Boero & Bouillon (2000), Bouillon et al. (2004), and Genzano et al. (2008) did not follow this scheme and retained the genus Euphysora .

Other species of the genus Corymorpha found on the Brazilian coast are Corymorpha forbesi Vannucci & Brinckmann-Voss , C. furcata (Kramp) , and C. januarii Steenstrup (Navas-Pereira 1980, 1981; Ramirez & Zamponi 1981; Silveira & Migotto 1992; Nogueira 2012). Medusae of these three species are quite different from that of C. gracilis . Corymorpha forbesi has no apical process and bears only one tentacle, whereas C. furcata has a primary tentacle bifurcated at the end. C. januarii produces only eumedusoids without tentacles or a functional mouth ( Silveira & Migotto 1992; Bouillon 1999). Specimens described from the Benguela Current as Euphysora gracilis do not have an apical process ( Pagés et al. 1992), a condition not observed in specimens from the southwestern Atlantic, necessitating comparison with material from Brazil.

Biological data. Common species throughout the southeast continental shelf of Brazil ( Vannucci 1963, Tronolone 2007). Its life cycle has not been described.

Figures

FIGURE 6 – 9. Turritopsis nutricula McCrady: lateral view (6); Proboscidactyla ornata (McCrady): oral view of medusae with buds on the basis of gastric pouch (7) and cluster of nematocysts on umbrellar margin (8); Corymorpha gracilis (Brooks): adult medusae, Dzoo-Cn 246 (9).