Stauridiosarsia ophiogaster ( Haeckel, 1879 )

Mendoza-Becerril, María A., Estrada-González, Mariae C., Mazariegos-Villarreal, Alejandra, Restrepo-Avendaño, Luisa, Villar-Beltrán, Rogelio D., Agüero, José & Cunha, Amanda F., 2020, Taxonomy and diversity of Hydrozoa (Cnidaria, Medusozoa) of La Paz Bay, Gulf of California, Zootaxa 4808 (1), pp. 1-37 : 7-8

Stauridiosarsia ophiogaster ( Haeckel, 1879)

Figs. 3 H–K

Dipurena ophiogaster Haeckel 1879: 25 , pl. 2, figs. 1–7.— Palomares-García et al. 2002: 123.— Segura-Puertas et al. 2003: 15. Purena brownei Bigelow, 1909: 183 , pl.7, fig. 7, pl. 44, figs. 8–10.— Slabberia brownei .— Foerster (1923): 20.

Dipurena brownei .— Segura-Puertas et al. 2003: 15.— Segura-Puertas et al. 2010: 107.— Jáquez-Bermúdez et al. 2013: 39.

Type locality. Jersey, British coast ( Haeckel, 1879) .

Material examined. Medusa—PB7_2, sampling site 1 (5), two immature and three mature, males, 27°C; PB7_ 19, sampling site 2 (3), one immature and two mature, one female and one male, 27°C; PB7_10, sampling site 3 (3), mature, male, 26.5°C.

Description. Umbrella higher (0.4–1.4 mm long) than broad (0.3–1.1 mm wide). Elongated manubrium (0.1– 1.5 mm long), with a circular base (0.06–0.1 mm wide), without peduncle, and mouth with simple lips. Distal end of the manubrium with an apical rounded to a triangular chamber (0.01–0.1 mm wide). Elongated gonads (0.1–1.6 mm long), continuous and discontinuous, completely surrounding the manubrium. Four short, solid, and capitate tentacles beset with scattered nematocyst rings. Marginal tentacle bulbs with one red abaxial ocelli each.

Nematocysts (length x diam.). Mostly desmonemes (6.0–6.6 x 2.2–3.2 µm), and stenoteles (8.7–10.6 x 6.9–8.3 µm).

More detailed description in Bigelow (1909, as Purena brownei ), Mayer (1910, as Slabberia ophiogaster ) and Kramp (1961, as Dipurena brownei and D. ophiogaster ).

Taxonomic status. Accepted. AphiaID 565165.

Remarks. This is a specimen with Digenea parasites on the gelatinous layer, manubrium, and tentacles. The species Purena brownei was described by Bigelow (1909) as a new name to Browne’s material of Dipurena sp. from the Indian Ocean ( Browne, 1905), with additional materials from French Polynesia and Acapulco, Mexico. The genus Purena was proposed by Hartlaub (1907) to include species of Dipurena McCrady, 1859 and Sarsia Lesson, 1843 , which had gonads disposed of separately in a series along the manubrium, as well as tentacles with clusters of nematocysts. However, this distinction was not entirely accepted, and many subsequent authors treated Bigelow’s species as a member of Dipurena , including some records from the Mexican Pacific (e.g., Segura-Puertas et al. 2003, 2010; Jáquez-Bermudéz et al. 2013). This species was later included in the synonym of Dipurena ophiogaster Haeckel, 1879 by Mayer (1910, as Slabberia ophiogaster ) and Kramp (1961), although there was doubt. A molecular phylogenetic study with representatives of the family Corynidae has shown that the genus Dipurena is polyphyletic, and assigned to Stauridiosarsia Mayer, 1910 some of the species formerly attributed to Dipurena , such as D. ophiogaster ( Nawrocki et al. 2010) . As stated by Schuchert (2020a), although Dipurena has been frequently used as a synonym of the genus Slabberia Forbes, 1846 , the latter has priority and should be applied to the typical Dipurena clade (sensu Nawrocki et al. 2010).

Distribution. Widely distributed in warm and temperate waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans ( Russell 1953; Kramp 1961). In Mexican Pacific it has been reported in Baja California Sur (Bahía Concepción) ( Palomares-García et al. 2002), Jalisco, Colima ( Segura-Puertas et al. 2010; Jáquez-Bermudez et al. 2013) and Guerrero (Acapulco) ( Bigelow 1909; Guerrero-Ruíz et al. 2014).

Figures

FIGURE 3. A–B Rhopalonema velatum Gegenbaur, 1857: A, ecto-endodermal statocyst; B, nematocyst of medusa; a, stenotele; b, desmoneme. C–G Hydrocorynidae: C, colony; D, encrusting colony and amorphous hydrorhizal; E, hydranths and gonophore; F, capitate tentacles; G, nematocyst of polyp; a, stenotele; b, microbasic euryteles. H–K Stauridiosarsia ophiogaster (Haeckel, 1879): H, medusa; I, manubrium and gonads; J, capitate tentacles; K, nematocyst of medusa; a, desmoneme; b, stenotele. L, Bimeria vestita Wright, 1859 polyp. Scale equals A, F, J—200 µm; B, K, G—20 µm; C—33 mm; D—3.5 mm; E—0.8 mm; H—0.7 mm; I—500 µm; L—0.2 mm.