Phyllorhiza punctata

Last updated

Phyllorhiza punctata
Phyllorhiza punctata (White-spotted jellyfish) edit.jpg
Phyllorhiza punctata off the north coast of Haiti
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Scyphozoa
Order: Rhizostomeae
Family: Mastigiidae
Genus: Phyllorhiza
Species:
P. punctata
Binomial name
Phyllorhiza punctata
Lendenfeld, 1884

Phyllorhiza punctata is a species of jellyfish, also known as the floating bell, Australian spotted jellyfish, brown jellyfish or the white-spotted jellyfish. It is native to the western Pacific from Australia to Japan, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It feeds primarily on zooplankton. P. punctata generally can reach up to 50 centimetres (20 in) in bell diameter, [1] [2] but in October 2007, one 74 cm (29 in) wide, perhaps the largest ever recorded, was found on Sunset Beach, North Carolina. [3]

Contents

Description

At Tierpark Hagenbeck, Germany Phyllorhiza punctata IV macro.jpg
At Tierpark Hagenbeck, Germany
At Tiergarten Schonbrunn, Hietzing, Wien, Austria Phyllorhiza punctata in Tiergarten Schonbrunn 24 July 2020 JM (2).jpg
At Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Hietzing, Wien, Austria

True jellyfish go through a two-stage life cycle which consists of a medusa stage (adult) and a polyp stage (juvenile). In the medusa stage, male jellyfish release sperm into the water column and the female jellyfish gathers the sperm into her mouth where she holds the eggs. Once fertilization occurs and larvae are formed they leave their mother and settle to the ocean floor. Once on the bottom a polyp form occurs and this form reproduces asexually by "cloning" or dividing itself into other polyps. Jellyfish can live for up to five years in the polyp stage and up to two years in the medusa stage (active).[ citation needed ]

When found in warm waters these jellyfish flourish. They are mostly euryhaline but low salinities may have a negative effect on the species. In times of low salinity, these jellyfish exhibit loss of their zooxanthellae. [4] Their dispersal patterns are locally patchy. [5]

They have only a mild venom and are not considered a threat to humans. They have a mild or non-noticeable sting which can be cured with dilute acid. (Usually white or cider vinegar)

Ecology

The Phyllorhiza punctata is a part of the Rhizostomatidae family and the genus Phyllorhiza.

Their venom is not potent enough to kill their prey which is why they are filter feeders. Their main food source is zooplankton. Normally they travel in large groups, which tends to result in huge swaths of them consuming all of the zooplankton in the area. This leads to detrimental impacts for the local ecosystem in which they travel through. Since they eat all the zooplankton, there is a lack of food for the other species relying on the plankton as their food source. [6]

Their native distribution is around Cairns, Queensland, Australia, and Thailand. Having its native habitat extend north from eastern Australia up to South East Asia. They have also been found in non-native regions such as Western Australia, United States, the Atlantic Basin, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the eastern Mediterranean, Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. The P. punctata prefer warm temperate seas and aggregate in waters near coastlines. [6]

Their nutrition comes primarily from zooplankton. The process of consumption is by filtration. Fluid flows over clusters of mouthlets near the base of the oral arm disk in the centre of the cylinder. The feeding process is continuous since the jellyfish must be swimming in order to move the prey to different mouthlets so they can be digested. [7]

Reproduction in P. punctata is unique. In the initial stage of life – the polyp stage – the polyp is asexual. It reproduces by multiplying itself various times; creating a larger hatch than the original the mother had created. The next stage – the medusa stage – is when the jellyfish becomes sexually reproductive. The male shoots his sperm into the water and the female collects the sperm in her mouthlets and filter them to her reproductive organs. There they grow into polyps where they are eventually dropped to the bottom of the ocean where they grow and begin to reproduce on their own. [6]

Invasive species

Video from Universeum, Sweden

The species has been found in the waters off the Hawaiian Islands since at least 1945, [8] in the Mediterranean Sea since at least 1965, [9] and in large numbers in the Gulf of Mexico since 2000. [10] In the eastern Pacific, it has been sighted in the San Diego area and the Gulf of California as early as 1981. [11] [12] While it is not known how it was introduced to these regions, it has been theorized that budding polyps may have attached themselves to ships, [13] or were carried in a ship's ballast tank which was subsequently dumped. [2] As an invasive species, it has become a threat to several species of shrimp. In Gulf waters, the medusae grow to unusually large size, upwards of 60 cm (24 in) across.[ citation needed ]

In July 2007, smallish individuals were seen in Bogue Sound much further north along the North Carolina coast. However, their ability to consume plankton and the eggs and larvae of important fish species is cause for concern. Each jellyfish can filter as much as 50,000 litres (13,000 US gal) of seawater per day. While doing that, it ingests the plankton that native species need.

In North America and Hawaii, its non-native locations are the following: Northern Gulf of Mexico, Southern California, Greater Antilles, Florida, and the Hawaiian Islands. [5] They are also threatening large fishing industries because of their consumption of eggs and the larvae of fish, crab and shrimp. Along with harming populations in the fisheries, they severely clog the fishnets, damage boat intakes, and ruin fishing gear. At times they cause the closure of productive areas for fishing. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jellyfish</span> Soft-bodied, aquatic invertebrates

Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies, are the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scyphozoa</span> Class of marine cnidarians, true jellyfish

The Scyphozoa are an exclusively marine class of the phylum Cnidaria, referred to as the true jellyfish.

<i>Chrysaora quinquecirrha</i> Species of jellyfish

The Atlantic sea nettle, also called the East Coast sea nettle in the United States, is a species of jellyfish that inhabits the Atlantic coast of the United States. Historically it was confused with several Chrysaora species, resulting in incorrect reports of C. quinquecirrha from other parts of the Atlantic and other oceans. Most recently, C. chesapeakei of estuaries on the Atlantic coast of the United States, as well as the Gulf of Mexico, was only fully recognized as separate from C. quinquecirrha in 2017. It is smaller than the Pacific sea nettle, and has more variable coloration, but is typically pale, pinkish or yellowish, often with radiating more deeply colored stripes on the exumbrella, especially near the margin.

<i>Craspedacusta sowerbii</i> Species of jellyfish

Craspedacusta sowerbii or peach blossom jellyfish is a species of freshwater hydrozoan jellyfish, or hydromedusa cnidarian. Hydromedusan jellyfish differ from scyphozoan jellyfish because they have a muscular, shelf-like structure called a velum on the ventral surface, attached to the bell margin. Originally from the Yangtze basin in China, C. sowerbii is an introduced species now found throughout the world in bodies of fresh water.

<i>Phacellophora camtschatica</i> Species of jellyfish

Phacellophora camtschatica, commonly known as the fried egg jellyfish or egg-yolk jellyfish, is a very large jellyfish in the family Phacellophoridae. This species can be easily identified by the yellow coloration in the center of its body which closely resembles an egg yolk, hence how it got its common name. Some individuals can have a bell close to 60 cm (2 ft) in diameter, and most individuals have 16 clusters of up to a few dozen tentacles, each up to 6 m (20 ft) long. A smaller jellyfish, Cotylorhiza tuberculata, typically found in warmer water, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea, is also popularly called a fried egg jellyfish. Also, P. camtschatica is sometimes confused with the Lion's mane jellyfish.

<i>Carybdea</i> Genus of jellyfishes

Carybdea is a genus of venomous box jellyfish within the family Carybdeidae that currently consists of a total of 8 species. This genus of jellyfish are often found in warm waters around the world in waters such as the Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and off the coast of Africa. Their sting can cause a range of effects depending on the species. These invertebrates will go through both sexual and asexual reproduction as they transform from a polyp to medusa. Carybdea have a box-shaped bell with four tentacles and eye-like sensory structures. There are distinct physical markings that differentiate many species within the genus. While Carybdea use their venom to act as predators, they are also preyed on by turtles and various fish. They feed on plankton, invertebrates, fish, and some crustaceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mastigiidae</span> Family of jellyfishes

Mastigiidae is a family of true jellyfish. The family is native to the Indo-Pacific, but a species of Mastigias has been introduced to the West Atlantic, and Phyllorhiza punctata has been introduced to the West Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea.

<i>Cotylorhiza tuberculata</i> Species of jellyfish

Cotylorhiza tuberculata is a species of jellyfish of the phylum Cnidaria, also known as the Mediterranean jellyfish, Mediterranean jelly, or fried egg jellyfish. It is commonly found in the Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, and Adriatic Sea.

<i>Turritopsis dohrnii</i> Species of small, biologically immortal jellyfish

Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as the immortal jellyfish, is a species of small, biologically immortal jellyfish found worldwide in temperate to tropic waters. It is one of the few known cases of animals capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary individual. Others include the jellyfish Laodicea undulata and species of the genus Aurelia.

<i>Chrysaora hysoscella</i> Species of jellyfish

Chrysaora hysoscella, the compass jellyfish, is a common species of jellyfish that inhabits coastal waters in temperate regions of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, including the North Sea and Mediterranean Sea. In the past it was also recorded in the southeastern Atlantic, including South Africa, but this was caused by confusion with close relatives; C. africana, C. fulgida and an undescribed species tentatively referred to as "C. agulhensis".

<i>Chrysaora fuscescens</i> Species of cnidarian

The Pacific sea nettle, or West Coast sea nettle, is a widespread planktonic scyphozoan cnidarian—or medusa, “jellyfish” or “jelly”—that lives in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, in temperate to cooler waters off of British Columbia and the West Coast of the United States, ranging south to México. The Pacific sea nettle earned its common name in-reference to its defensive, ‘nettle’-like sting; much like the stinging nettle plant, the sea nettle’s defensive sting is often irritating to humans, though rarely dangerous.

<i>Aurelia</i> (cnidarian) Genus of jellyfish

Aurelia is a genus of jellyfish that are commonly called moon jellies, which are in the class Scyphozoa. There are currently 25 accepted species and many that are still not formally described.

<i>Stygiomedusa</i> Species of jellyfish

Stygiomedusa gigantea, commonly known as the giant phantom jelly, is the only species in the monotypic genus of deep sea jellyfish, Stygiomedusa. It is in the Ulmaridae family. With only around 110 sightings in 110 years, it is a jellyfish that is rarely seen, but believed to be widespread throughout the world, with the exception of the Arctic Ocean.

<i>Drymonema</i> Genus of jellyfishes

Drymonema is a genus of true jellyfish, placed in its own family, the Drymonematidae. There are three species: Drymonema dalmatinum, Drymonema gorgo, and Drymonema larsoni, which are found in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

<i>Copula sivickisi</i> Species of jellyfish

Copula is a monotypic genus of box jellyfish in the family Tripedaliidae of the phylum Cnidaria. The only species in the genus is Copula sivickisi, a very small gelatinous, bell-shaped jellyfish with four tentacles that is active only at night. It is unusual among box jellyfish in having a mating ritual and internal fertilization. Its scientific name honours the Lithuanian zoologist Pranciškus Baltrus Šivickis.

<i>Chrysaora plocamia</i> Species of jellyfish

The South American sea nettle is a species of jellyfish from the family Pelagiidae. It is found from the Pacific coast of Peru, south along Chile's coast to Tierra del Fuego, and north along the Atlantic coast of Argentina, with a few records from Uruguay. Despite its common name, it is not the only sea nettle in South America. For example, C. lactea is another type of sea nettle in this region. Historically, C. plocamia was often confused with C. hysoscella, a species now known to be restricted to the northeast Atlantic. C. plocamia is a large jellyfish, up to 1 m in bell diameter, although most mature individuals only are 25–40 cm (10–16 in).

Chiropsella bronzie is a species of box jellyfish. It is considered much less of a threat to humans than some of its relatives. The species was described in 2006, and is one of four species in the genus Chiropsella. Chiropsella bronzie can be found in shallow waters off the coast of Queensland, Australia.

<i>Cephea cephea</i> Species of jellyfish

Cephea cephea, also known as the crown jellyfish, or cauliflower jellyfish, is a species of jellyfish in the family Cepheidae. It occurs in the tropical waters of the western Indo-Pacific to Northern Australia. The species was first described by Peter Forsskål in 1775 and originally given the name Medusa cephea. It inhabits the pelagic zone of tropical and sub-tropical waters and is most commonly found in the Indo-West Pacific, eastern Atlantic and the Red Sea. Although this species is among the most venomous jellyfish, it is not harmful to humans and is eaten as a delicacy and used for medical purposes in China and Japan. The species can achieve a diameter of up to 60 cm.

<i>Abylopsis tetragona</i> Species of cnidarian

Abylopsis tetragona is a species of siphonophore in the family Abylidae.

<i>Aurelia coerulea</i> Species of jellyfish

Aurelia coerulea or Asian moon jelly is a species of moon jelly in the genus Aurelia. This species is native to the seas off Japan, China, Korea, and California, as well as the Mediterranean and other temperate seas. and they can also be found in coastal areas of China, Korea, California, the Mediterranean and other temperate seas. It is particularly abundant in artificial habitats and sheltered regions. It has a very high reproductive rate which can cause blooming events. A.coerulea blooming causes problems such as impairing fisheries, clogging the nuclear power plants and disrupting the local zooplankton abundance. The chemical compounds the species secretes as a self-defense mechanism can be used for pharmaceutical purposes.

References

  1. ↑ Bishop Museum (2002). Phyllorhiza punctata. Hawaii Biological Survey, Bishop Museum. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 "White-spotted Jellyfish Fact File". Australian Museum. 2009. Archived from the original on 13 July 2009.
  3. ↑ "Australian spotted jellyfish (Phyllorhiza punctata) - Collection record". nas.er.usgs.gov. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  4. ↑ Masterson, J. (13 June 2007). "Phyllorhiza punctata". Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Phyllorhiza punctata White Spotted Jellyfish" (PDF).
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Phyllorhiza punctata (Australian spotted jellyfish)". CABI. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  7. ↑ D'Ambra, I., Costello, J. H., & Bentivegna, F. (2001). Flow and prey capture by the scyphomedusa Phyllorhiza punctata von Lendenfeld, 1884. Springer Link, 451(1), 223-227.
  8. ↑ "Phyllorhiza punctata, Introduced Marine Species of Hawaii Guidebook". Bishop Museum. 2002. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  9. ↑ Cevik, C., O. B. Derici1, F. Cevik and L. Cavas (2011). First record of Phyllorhiza punctata von Lendenfeld, 1884 (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae: Mastigiidae) from Turkey. Aquatic Invasions 6(1): S27–S28
  10. ↑ "Phyllorhiza punctata ('spotted jellyfish')". Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  11. ↑ Bayha, Keith M. and Graham, William M. "Nonindigenous Marine Jellyfish: Invasiveness, Invasibility, and Impacts," from Jellyfish Blooms, Kylie A. Pitt, Cathy H. Lucas, eds. Springer. 2014. Table 3.1. p.49.
  12. ↑ Center, National Invasive Species Information. "Invasive Species: Aquatic Species - White Spotted Jellyfish (Phyllorhiza punctata)". www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Spotted Jellyfish (Phyllorhiza punctata)". Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.