Liriope tetraphylla

Nerítico y Oceánico

16 S Data: A blastn search in GenBank with the 16 S from Florida (MW 528649) yielded numerous matches with other Liriope tetraphylla samples, but only with identities from 92 to 95.5 %. The sequence obtained from the Mediterranean specimen (MW 528628) gave identities from 90 to 99 % with other Liriope tetraphylla sequences.

Fig. 62

Remarks: This is a rather unproblematic species, but Collins et al. (2008) suggested the existence of cryptic species based on significant divergences in mitochondrial 16 S and nuclear sequence data. The high 16 S divergences were confirmed in the present study.

Distribution: In Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic ocean, including the Mediterranean, approximately between 40 ° N and 40 ° S, in the NE Atlantic reaching to the English Channel (Kramp, 968). Type locality: Indian Ocean (Chamisso & Eysenhardt, 1821).

Examined material: BFLA 4026; 1 specimen; 15 - FEB- 2019; size 20 mm; preserved in alcohol for DNA extraction; 16 S sequence MW 528649. MHNG-INVE- 0031754; Mediterranean, Bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer; 43.6860 ° N 7.3170 ° E; 70 m depth; collection date 11 - MAY- 2001;> 2 specimens; size 3 - 4 mm; 1 preserved in formalin, others in ethanol for DNA extraction; 16 S sequence MW 528628. Observations: Specimen from Florida with nearly hemispherical bell, 20 mm wide, apical jelly thick, with long, thin gastric peduncle, peduncle length more than two times the bell height. Thin nematocysts tracks on exumbrella, four perradial and four interradial, interradial ones reaching only to base of short tentacles, perradial ones longer. Stomach on long gastric peduncle, relatively small, four indistinct perradial lips. Radial canals four, centripetal canals not visible on photos. Gonads very wide, flat, leaf-like, heart-shaped with pointed side pointing toward periphery. Four long perradial tentacles originating at bell margin, with ring-shaped nematocyst clusters. Four short interradial tentacles originating above bell margin on exumbrella, with adaxial nematocyst clusters.

Remarks: Collins et al. (2008) suggested that this species may be referable to Limnomedusae. Distribution in South America: medusa — Pacific Ocean, Colombia to Chile, from 20 ° N to 20 ° S, from 22.50 ° S to 46 ° S (Kramp 1965, 1966; Alvariño 1976; Segura-Puertas 1984; Cely & Chiquillo 1993; Palma 1994; Palma & Rosales 1995; Pagès et al. 2001; Palma & Apablaza 2004; Apablaza & Palma 2006; Baldrich 2007; Palma et al. 2007 a p. 70, 73, 2007 b p. 74, 80, 2011; Pavez et al. 2010; IMARPE database of zooplankton; Chirichigno, pers. comm.); Atlantic Ocean, Colombia to Argentina, from 17 ° N to 39.84 ° S, at 47 ° S 59 ° W, at 54.97 ° S 66.80 ° W (F. Müller 1859; Vannucci 1951 a, 1951 b, 1957 a; Kramp 1957; Vannucci & Tundisi 1962; Alvariño 1968; Moreira 1973, 1978; Moncaleano & Niño 1976; Goy 1979; Navas-Pereira 1974, 1980, 1981; Ramírez & Zamponi 1980, 1981; Correia 1983; Giraldo & Villalobos 1983; Zamponi 1983 a; Zamponi & Suarez 1991; Zamponi & Genzano 1994; Tronolone 2001, 2008; Domínguez 2002; Migotto et al. 2002; Tronolone & Migotto 2005, abstract; Genzano et al. 2008 a; Nascimento 2010; Oliveira et al. 2010 b, abstract; Blough et al. 2011; Silveira & Morandini 2011; Nogueira Jr. 2012; Nagata et al. 2014 a, 2014 b; Gusmão et al. 2015; Nogueira Jr. et al. 2015 a, 2015 b). Habitat: holoplanktonic, eurythermic and euryhaline species, usually distributed and common in warm waters of all oceans (Kramp 1959 a).

Description (after Mayer 1910 as L. exigua; Kramp 1959; Pagès et al. 1992): Medusa. Umbrella hemispherical, 10 – 30 mm wide, apex somewhat flattened, mesoglea thick, rigid; manubrium small, on long, cylindrical gastric peduncle, longer than umbrella diameter; mouth with 4 simple lips boarded with cnidocysts; with normally 4 radial canals (sometimes more) and 1 – 7 centripetal canals between each pair of adjacent radial canals; gonads variable in shape and size, generally heart-shaped, on either side of the middle of radial canals; velum broad; with marginal cnidocyst ring; typically 4 long hollow perradial tentacles with cnidocyst rings and 4 small solid interradial tentacles with adaxial cnidocyst clusters; 8 statocysts. Colorless. Cnidome Atrichous haplonemes and microbasic euryteles. Seasonality January – December (see Bouillon et al. 2004); May – June (Benović et al. 2005); January (Touzri et al. 2010) in several localities of the Mediterranean Sea. Reproductive period. From January to December (see Russell 1953).

Distribution. Common in temperate regions in all oceans, and in the Mediterranean Sea (Russell 1953; Kramp 1959, 1961; Medel & López-González 1996; Bouillon et al. 2004). Records in Salento. Common in the Gulf of Taranto (Belmonte et al. 2001).

Material examined. HCUS-S 121 (Hydrozoa Collection, University of Salento — fauna of the Salento Peninsula).

Description. Umbrella hemispherical, 0.25 – 17.5 mm in diameter, thin mesoglea with apical thickening. Small stomach, gastric peduncle of variable length, depending on the degree of ontogenetic development. In mature individuals, peduncle can reach 1 – 3 times the umbrellar height (Fig. 34). Mouth with 4 simple or slightly crenulated lips. 4 flattened, circular to leaf-shaped gonads on the radial canals, covering almost the entire subumbrellar surface (Fig. 34). 4 long and hollow perradial marginal tentacles, with nematocyst rings. 4 short solid interradial marginal tentacles, with adaxial batteries of nematocysts, which may be lost as the medusa grows. 8 statocysts at the base of the tentacles, with concretions. Young medusae (<2 mm) without peduncle, and with only interradial tentacles (Fig. 35). Systematic remarks. Other species have been described for the genus; however, it is currently considered monospecific (Schuchert 2013). Collins et al. (2008) suggested the existence of cryptic species based on significant divergences in mitochondrial 16 S and nuclear SSU sequence data. The species is easily recognized in all its stages of development due to the general shape, type and arrangement of tentacles, manubrium and peduncle shape, and long gastric peduncle in adults. Its morphology can be highly variable with respect to the shape of the gonads (Russell 1953), number of radial (Zamponi & Genzano 1989 a, b) and centripetal canals (Pagès et al. 1992), and size (Bouillon 1999). Biological data. In some regions the species occurs in oceanic waters, as in the Benguela Current (Buecher & Gibbons 2001), Humboldt Current, Chile (Kramp 1966; Palma et al. 2007) and off the California coast, USA (Suárez-Morales et al. 2002). However, in the Western Atlantic it is generally considered a euryhaline-coastal species (Larson 1982; Suárez-Morales et al. 1999; Tronolone 2007; Mianzan et al. 2000). In most studies of planktonic cnidarians in the western tropical and subtropical Atlantic, the species is dominant in coastal waters, and may occur in almost 100 % of the samples (Vannucci 1963; Larson 1982; Suárez-Morales et al. 1999, 2002; Tronolone 2007; present study). In Brazil, densities up to 1000 org. m - 3 were recorded off estuarine regions of Paranaguá (Paraná) and São Francisco do Sul (Santa Catarina) (Tronolone 2007). On beaches of southern Uruguay and northern Argentina, aggregations reaching densities of 4.7 * 10 6 org. m - 3 cause skin irritations in bathers (Mianzan et al. 2000). Its diet has not been studied in detail, but the species may be an important predator at different trophic levels, given the great diversity of planktonic organisms found within the manubrium, such as herbivorous crustaceans, chaetognaths, and fish eggs and larvae (Larson 1982).

Distribution in Brazil. Along the entire coast, being abundant near and whithin estuaries (Vannucci 1957; Goy 1979; Navas-Pereira 1980; Montú & Cordeiro 1988; Tronolone 2007; Neumann-Leitão et al. 2008; Nogueira 2011, 2012).

Material. Municipality of Pontal do Paraná, Balneário de Praia de Leste (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 01 / 12 / 1997 — 164 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 01 / 12 / 1997 — 157 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 01 / 12 / 1997 — 36 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W); 01 / 12 / 1997 — 86 specimens; (25 º 42 ’ 65 ” S – 48 º 27 ’ 85 ” W): 22 / 12 / 1997 — 124 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 22 / 12 / 1997 — 206 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 22 / 12 / 1997 — 54 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 22 / 12 / 1997 — 79 specimens; (25 º 42 ’ 65 ” S – 48 º 27 ’ 85 ” W): 23 / 01 / 1998 — 12 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 23 / 01 / 1998 — 33 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 23 / 01 / 1998 — 53 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 23 / 01 / 1998 — 174 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 23 / 01 / 1998 — 102 specimens; (25 º 42 ’ 65 ” S – 48 º 27 ’ 85 ” W): 20 / 02 / 1998 — 36 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 20 / 02 / 1998 — 63 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 20 / 02 / 1998 — 593 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 20 / 02 / 1998 — 570 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 20 / 02 / 1998 — 90 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 31 / 03 / 1998 — 6 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 31 / 03 / 1998 — 6 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 31 / 03 / 1998 — 4 specimens; (25 º 42 ’ 65 ” S – 48 º 27 ’ 85 ” W): 22 / 04 / 1998 — 30 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 22 / 04 / 1998 30 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 22 / 04 / 1998 — 1 specimen; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 22 / 04 / 1998 — specimen; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 27 / 05 / 1998 — 27 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 27 / 05 / 1998 — 19 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 27 / 05 / 1998 — 2 specimens; (25 º 42 ’ 65 ” S – 48 º 27 ’ 85 ” W): 24 / 06 / 1998 — 21 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 24 / 06 / 1998 — 7 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 24 / 06 / 1998 — 8 specimens; (25 º 42 ’ 65 ” S – 48 º 27 ’ 85 ” W): 16 / 07 / 1998 — 29 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 16 / 07 / 1998 — 25 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 16 / 07 / 1998 — 17 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 16 / 07 / 1998 — 10 specimens; (25 º 42 ’ 65 ” S – 48 º 27 ’ 85 ” W): 20 / 08 / 1998 — 585 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 20 / 08 / 1998 — 922 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 20 / 08 / 1998 — 154 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 20 / 08 / 1998 — 14 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 20 / 08 / 1998 — 3 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 02 / 10 / 1998 — 84 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 02 / 10 / 1998 — 234 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 02 / 10 / 1998 — 60 specimens; (25 º 42 ’ 65 ” S – 48 º 27 ’ 85 ” W): 28 / 10 / 1998 — 10 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 28 / 10 / 1998 — 207 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 28 / 10 / 1998 — 101 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 28 / 10 / 1998 — 79 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 28 / 10 / 1998 — 36 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 25 / 11 / 1998 — 35 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 21 / 12 / 1998 — 7 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 21 / 12 / 1998 — 6 specimens; (25 º 42 ’ 65 ” S – 48 º 27 ’ 85 ” W): 22 / 01 / 1999 — 38 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 22 / 01 / 1999 — 20 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 22 / 01 / 1999 — 30 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 24 / 02 / 1999 — 2 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 24 / 02 / 1999 — 3 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 24 / 02 / 1999 — 3 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 24 / 02 / 1999 — 23 specimens; (25 º 42 ’ 65 ” S – 48 º 27 ’ 85 ” W): 24 / 03 / 1999 — 2 specimens; (25 º 44 ’ 15 ” S – 48 º 21 ’ 60 ” W): 24 / 03 / 1999 — 9 specimens; (25 º 46 ’ 32 ” S – 48 º 12 ’ 15 ” W): 24 / 03 / 1999 — 72 specimens; (25 º 48 ’ 10 ” S – 48 º 04 ’ 90 ” W): 24 / 03 / 1999 — 3 specimens; (25 º 50 ’ 25 ” S – 47 º 55 ’ 80 ” W): 24 / 03 / 1999 — 11 specimens. Reference specimens deposited. MZUSP 1520, 34 specimens, MZUP 1518, 33 specimens, MZUSP 1495, 4 specimens. Dzoo-Cn 252, 8 specimens. World distribution. In the three great oceans and the Mediterranean Sea, in greater abundance within the 20 ° C isotherm (Thiel 1936, p. 52, fig. 10 cited in Russell 1953), and absent in the polar regions (Russell 1953).