Aequorea vitrina

Aequorea vitrina
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Hydrozoa
Order:	Leptothecata
Family:	Aequoreidae
Genus:	Aequorea
Species:	A. vitrina
Binomial name
Aequorea vitrina Gosse, 1853
Synonyms [1]
Campanulina acuminata(Alder, 1857) Laomedea acuminataAlder, 1856 Polycanna vitrina(Gosse, 1853)

Aequorea vitrina, commonly called the crystal jellyfish, crystal jelly, lampshade or disk jellyfish, ^[2] is a species of hydrozoan in the family Aequoreidae. ^{[3] [4]}

The specific name vitrina means "glassy", due to its transparent appearance; it should not be confused with Aequorea victoria , which is also sometimes called the crystal jelly.

Description

Lithograph of A. vitrina by its first describer, Philip Henry Gosse, 1853

Aequorea vitrina in its medusa (adult) stage has a diameter of 10–17 cm (3.9–6.7 in); thick in the centre, gradually thinning towards margin. Its stomach is about half the width of the disc. It has 60–100 radial canals, its gonads extend along almost their entire length. It has 200+ tentacles, of 50 cm (1.6 ft) or more, ^[2] and 1 or 2 statocysts between radial canals. ^[5]

Distribution

Aequorea vitrina is found in the neritic zone in waters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland and in the North Sea. ^{[6] [7] [8]} In 2017 it was recorded in the Sea of Marmara as an invasive species. ^{[9] [10]}

Behaviour

Feeds on brine shrimp ( Artemia salina ) and rotifers ( Brachionus plicatilis ). It is bioluminescent due to aequorin and green fluorescent protein. ^[2]

References

1. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Aequorea vitrina Gosse, 1853". www.marinespecies.org.
2. Santhanam, Ramasamy (January 31, 2020). Biology and Ecology of Venomous Marine Cnidarians. Springer Nature. ISBN   9789811516030 – via Google Books.
3. "Aequorea vitrina Gosse, 1853 - A Crystal jelly (Hydrozoa images)". www.aphotomarine.com.
4. Purcell, Jennifer E.; Angel, Dror L. (March 21, 2015). Jellyfish Blooms: New Problems and Solutions. Springer. ISBN   9789048195411 – via Google Books.
5. "Marine Species Identification Portal : Aequorea vitrina". species-identification.org.
6. Castellani, Claudia; Edwards, Martin (September 1, 2017). "Marine Plankton: A practical guide to ecology, methodology, and taxonomy". Oxford University Press – via Google Books.
7. "Marine Species Identification Portal : Aequorea vitrina". species-identification.org.
8. O’Reilly, M; Semler, P (November 6, 2020). "The crystal jellyfish (Aequorea vitrina) in Loch Bracadale, Isle of Skye, Scotland". The Glasgow Naturalist. 27 (2): 67–69. doi:10.37208/tgn27214. S2CID   219485791.
9. Yilmaz, I. Noyan; Isinibilir, Melek; Vardar, Denizhan; Dursun, Fuat (April 3, 2017). "First record of Aequorea vitrina Gosse, 1853 (Hydrozoa) from the Sea of Marmara: a potential invader for the Mediterranean Sea" . Zoology in the Middle East. 63 (2): 178–180. doi:10.1080/09397140.2017.1299334. S2CID   90689171 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
10. Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United (July 29, 2021). Non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Food & Agriculture Org. ISBN   9789251347751 – via Google Books.