| Tripedalia | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Cubozoa |
| Order: | Carybdeida |
| Family: | Tripedaliidae |
| Genus: | Tripedalia Conant, 1897 |
| Species | |
Tripedalia is a genus within the family Tripedaliidae that is part of the box jellyfish, also known as the Cubozoa. There are only three known species within Tripedalia: T. cystophora , T. binata [1] and T. maipoensis . [2]
Tripedalia are relatively small in size, ranging from 11 to 15 mm. Both species have a cuboid bell and are transparent with a yellowish to brownish color. Their bells contain nematocyst warts that are mainly around the outline of T. cystophora and are thinly spread throughout T. binata . As part of the Cubozoans, Tripedalia have knife-shaped pedalia, and their padalial canals are also bent. They have bead-like structured tentacles, and both species have flat stomachs with four gastric pouches. Inside their gastric pouches are butterfly-shaped gonads separated by interradial septa. [3]
The T. cystophora has been documented in various locations across the globe. They have been observed in the Philippines, Ecuador, Japan, India, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, and Florida. [4] [5] On the other hand, the distribution of T. binata is less well known than that of T. cystophora, although it has been reported in Thailand, Australia, and India. [6]
These jellyfish are commonly found in shallow waters near the shore and mangroves during the day, where they scavenge for food and hide from predators. However, little is known about their movement patterns at night. Some observations suggest that they may move towards coral reefs during the nighttime hours. It is possible that these jellyfish use the reefs as a source of food, or as a place to hide from predators. [6]
Tripedalia has an advanced eye structure making it an efficient hunter and navigator within mangrove habitats. [7] Box jellyfish have 24 eyes that are categorized into four morphological types. These four types are made up of two pigment cup eyes and two lens eyes that enhance the jellyfish’s ability to navigate their environment and detect prey or predators. [8] Tripedalia move throughout light when emersed in the mangrove roots allowing for it to capture copepods, while at night, it moves to the bottom of the lagoon. [9] Tripedalia have great sense of direction and navigational skills allowing for it to move throughout the mangroves and hunt its prey during the day and night. [4] Since jellyfish are very delicate and can easily be damaged, the Tripedalia have great vision and swimming capabilities in order to maneuver themselves throughout their environment. [10]
Tripedalia's life cycle involves two phases of body transformation: from swimming hatchlings to sessile polyps and from sessile polyps to free-swimming medusae. The female medusa's gastral pockets produce planulae from fertilized eggs, which settle and produce polyps with asexual buds. [11] Tripedalia polyps have the capacity to both settle and creep, and they can produce creeping polyps through budding. This adaptability is well-suited for their natural habitat in mangrove swamps, where the conditions are often muddy. This ability helps Tripedalia by preventing polyps from becoming buried in the sediment. [12] Tripedalia's polyp undergoes a unique metamorphosis into a single medusa with complex structures like the CNS and visual organs developing during this stage. The polyps the medusa exhibits increased cell proliferation in the rhopalia and pedalia during juvenile stages and metamorphosis, with a diurnal pattern observed in some body parts. The developing medusa undergoes a transformation in histology, including improvements to the sensory system and visual organs. [11]
Cnidaria is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in fresh water and marine environments, including jellyfish, hydroids, sea anemones, corals and some of the smallest marine parasites. Their distinguishing features are a decentralized nervous system distributed throughout a gelatinous body and the presence of cnidocytes or cnidoblasts, specialized cells with ejectable flagella used mainly for envenomation and capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living, jelly-like substance, sandwiched between two layers of epithelium that are mostly one cell thick. Cnidarians are also some of the only animals that can reproduce both sexually and asexually.
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.
Box jellyfish are cnidarian invertebrates distinguished by their box-like body. Some species of box jellyfish produce potent venom delivered by contact with their tentacles. Stings from some species, including Chironex fleckeri, Carukia barnesi, Malo kingi, and a few others, are extremely painful and often fatal to humans.
Rhopalia from Ancient Greek ῥόπαλον (rhópalon) 'club' are small sensory structures of certain Scyphozoan and Cubozoan species.
A simple eye or ocellus is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish them from "compound eyes", which have multiple lenses. They are not necessarily simple in the sense of being uncomplicated or basic.
Chironex fleckeri, commonly known as the Australian box jelly, and nicknamed the sea wasp, is a species of extremely venomous box jellyfish found in coastal waters from northern Australia and New Guinea to Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam. It has been described as "the most lethal jellyfish in the world", with at least 64 known deaths in Australia from 1884 to 2021.
Medusozoa is a clade in the phylum Cnidaria, and is often considered a subphylum. It includes the classes Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, Staurozoa and Cubozoa, and possibly the parasitic Polypodiozoa. Medusozoans are distinguished by having a medusa stage in their often complex life cycle, a medusa typically being an umbrella-shaped body with stinging tentacles around the edge. With the exception of some Hydrozoa, all are called jellyfish in their free-swimming medusa phase.
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.
Chirodropidae is a family of venomous box jellyfish within the class Cubozoa. Like other members of the order Chirodropida, they have branched pedalia, in contrast to the unbranched pedalia of box jellyfish in the order Carybdeida. Each branch houses its own individual tentacle. Nematocyst composition and type can vary among individuals within this family based on body size and life stage. Like other box jellyfish, chirodropids can be found in coastal and shallow marine areas, but they have also been found to occur at benthic depths.
Alatina alata(Reynaud, 1830), often called a sea wasp, is a species of box jellyfish found in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans and in the Caribbean and Arabian Sea.
Malo is one of a genus of box jellies in the family Carybdeida in the Phylum Cnidaria. It has four known species, three of which were described by the Australian marine biologist Lisa-Ann Gershwin. The genus was discovered in 2005. Many of the species are known for their paralytic and deadly affect. Many species in the Malo genus are very small and hard to capture and study. Many species of Malo have been captured on the Western and Eastern cost of Australia. Malo appear to be solidarity jellies.
Hydroidolina is a subclass of Hydrozoa and makes up 90% of the class. Controversy surrounds who the sister groups of Hydroidolina are, but research has shown that three orders remain consistent as direct relatives: Siphonophorae, Anthoathecata, and Leptothecata.
Tripedaliidae is a family of box jellyfish within class Cubozoa.
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.
Tripedalia cystophora is a small species of box jellyfish in the family Tripedaliidae. It is native to the Caribbean Sea and the Central Indo-Pacific.
Malo maxima is a small, and extremely dangerous Irukandji Jellyfish that is known to cause Irukandji Syndrome. It is one of the four species of Malo, along with Malo bella, Malo filipina, and Malo kingi. The Malo maxima was first described in 2005 by Lisa-ann Gershwin, who also described the Malo bella and Malo kingi jellyfish along with over 200 other species of jellyfish. Malo maxima differs from other species of jellyfish in many ways but the most confusing one is that they swim more like fish than jellyfish, however the reason for this is still unknown.
Carybdea marsupialis is a venomous species of box jellyfish, in the small family Carybdeidae within the class Cubozoa.
Morbakka virulenta is a species of box jellyfish that is found in waters near the islands of Japan. The species was originally described in the genus Tamoya by Kamakichi Kishinouye in 1910. However, unlike other species of that genus, this jellyfish did not have the vertical gastric phacellae which protect the inside of the bell with nematocyst warts. As a result, it was reclassified to the genus Morbakka due to its distinctively shaped rhopaliar horns which resemble rabbit ears. Because of its painful stings, M. virulenta has been nicknamed Hikurage, which is “fire jellyfish” in Japanese.
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.
Tamoya haplonema is a species of box jellyfish in the genus Tamoya. It is the type species of the genus and was described in 1859. The medusa possesses four tentacles, one each on an inter-radial pedal.
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