Chiropsella bronzie
| Chiropsella bronzie | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia
|
| Phylum: | Cnidaria
|
| Class: | Cubazoa
|
| Order: | Chirodropida
|
| Family: | Chiropsellidae
|
| Genus: | Chiropsella
|
| Species: | C. bronzie
|
| Binomial name | |
| Chiropsella bronzie | |
Chiropsella bronzie is a species of box jellyfish that has shown to be much less of a threat to humans than some of its popularized relatives. This species was recently identified in 2006, and can be found in shallow waters off the coast of Northeast Australia.[1]
Description
Anatomy and appearance
Chiropsella bronzie belongs to the order Chirodropida, which can be distinguished from other box jellyfish by the presence of muscular masses on the medusae's four corners and saccules found in the gastrovascular cavity. The adult bell of the Chiropsella bronzie is small and rounded, and ranges from 3 to 5 cm in diameter,[2]not exceeding 8 cm high and wide.[1] Each corner of the C. bronzie medusae holds up to 9 tentacles on each stalk, or pedalium.[3][1]
Chiropsella bronzie and other box jellyfish have very developed eyes and sensory structures. Box jellyfish posses true eyes, which are found in clusters called rhopalia. The Chiropsella bronzie has 24 eyes and 4 morphologically different types on rhopalia, Two of these eyes are camera type eyes, which consist of one upper lens and one lower lens eyes, and two pigment slit eyes. However, similar to T. cystophora, Chriposella bronzie have shown to have weaker eyes than other cubazoa species due to weaker lenses to focus images on the retina.[4] This is most likely due to eyes being ellipsoid in shape and very soft, unlike the spherical shape of other cubozoa that contain more sensory power.[4] Research also suggests that C. bronzie are most likely color blind, a factor that does not inhibit obstacle avoidance. [5][2]This variation in box jellyfish is expected due to the wide range of habitat cubozoa occupy, including sandy beaches, mangroves, kelp forests, the open ocean, and coal reefs.[5][6] The complexity of box jellyfish eyes allows for more advanced swimming and navigational behavior, such as increased awareness of surroundings and directional swimming.
Ecology
The life cycle of cubazoans can be simplified down to four stages: egg, swimming larvae, sessile polyps, and swimming medusae. Body plans are reorganized between each stage during metamorphisis, with the exception of development from egg to larvae. In the final metamorphisis, box jellyfish develop complex nervous systems, including advanced visual organs.[7] The rhopalia nervous system (RNS) is also developed during the final body reorganization.[7]
Box jellyfish can exhibit both asexual and sexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction occurs during the medusa stage, where the adult male jellyfish releases sperm into the water, and the female releases eggs to be fertilized. In some cases, the male medusa can directly inseminate the female using a sperm packet. In this case, the eggs will develop inside the bell as opposed to the open water.[8] Fertilized eggs then develop into a jellyfish larvae stage called a planula. These larvae contain cilia that allow them to swim throughout the water column. Box jellyfish remain in the planula larvae phase until settling on a hard surface on the seafloor where it will develop into a polyp.
Box jellyfish can also reproduce by means of asexual reproduction through budding. Through budding, settled jellyfish polyps can create small cloned "buds" on their body stalks. Once a bud is fully formed, it will break off of the polyp and develop into a medusa. Another difference between true jellyfish (scyphozoans) and cubazoans is that the entire cubazoan polyp develops into a medusae, as opposed to going through strobilation.[9] The habitat of Chiropsella bronzie polyps is still unknown, but research suggests they settle near or on beaches and mangroves.[10] In addition, it is unknown how long C. bronzie remains in the polyp stage before maturing to its final medusa stage. Once reaching the final stage, adult box jellyfish will spawn and begin the reproductive cycle once again. Cubazoans have shown to have short life spans of two years of less.
Behavior
Box jellyfish tend to move much faster than other jellyfish, with Chiropsella bronzie having a maximum speed of 7-8 cm per second against a 1 cm per second current.[2] Unlike true jellyfish who tend to simply float along with currents, cubazoans are known to be effective predators that hunt using their complex eyes. Their prey consists of shrimps, specifically Acestes australis.[2]
Distribution and Habitat
Cubozoan are distributed globally, but are commonly found in tropical waters in the Indo-Pacific region. C. bronzie is located in shallow waters near Queensland, Australia,[10] specifically from Cooktown to Townsville, Australia.[3] These beach habitats contain mangrove trees, sandy beaches, and coral reefs. After heavy rainfalls, C. bronzie habitats include sunken natural debris, such as branches and large rocks, that jellyfish need to navigate.[2]
Taxonomy
Chiropsella bronzie was previously misidentified in 1880 as Chiropsalmus quadrigata, an Indian Ocean cubazoan of the same order.[11] It was later correctly identified as a new species by Gershwin in 2006.[1] The species name bronzie is named after the Royal Life Saving Society's bronze medallion award for a qualified Life Saver.[1]
The order Chirodropida broken down in to three major families: Chirodropidae, Chiropsalmidae, and Chiropsellidae containing genuses Meteorona and Chiropsella. Out of all cubazoan relationships, research has shown that the Meteorona kishinouyei and Chiropsella bronzie are the closest relatives as they are the most phylogenically similar.[12] Both species have similar morphological traits, such as an unbranched gastrovascular cavity saccule, whereas most other cubazoans' gastro cavity saccules are branched.[12] Morphological traits used to distinguish the two species are differences in number of tentacles and pedalium shape.
A morphological exception that C. bronzie holds compared to other members of the order Chirodropida is the presence of gastric filaments in its stomach, where other members lack these structures.[12] Because of this exception, there has been proposals of adjusting Chirodropida taxonomy and the potential addition of another family.
Sting and Toxicity
The venom contained in C. bronzie’s cnidocytes is much less potent than other cubozoans, as there has been no evidence that C. bronzie can deliver a lethal sting to a human.[1] However, studies have shown that the venom of C. broznie has adversely affected the cardiovascular system of anesthetized rats in laboratory settings, by greatly lowering their heart rate.[13] The venom of C. bronzie may be very similar to that of C. fleckeri, but potentially less potent. This could be confirmed by the fact C. bronzie are more abundant than C. fleckeri, but have no history to be the cause of human fatalities.[10] A stronger venom would also allow C. bronzie to feed on fish, while their diet is limited to smaller prey, like shrimp. More research is needed to increase understanding of just how harmful the venom of C. broznie can be to humans.
References
- ^ a b c d e f GERSHWIN, LISA-ANN (2006-06-12). "Comments on Chiropsalmus (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Chirodropida): a preliminary revision of the Chiropsalmidae, with descriptions of two new genera and two new species". Zootaxa. 1231 (1): 1. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1231.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334.
- ^ a b c d e Garm, A.; O'Connor, M.; Parkefelt, L.; Nilsson, D.-E. (2007-10-15). "Visually guided obstacle avoidance in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora and Chiropsella bronzie". Journal of Experimental Biology. 210 (20): 3616–3623. doi:10.1242/jeb.004044. ISSN 0022-0949.
- ^ a b Bentlage, Bastian (2013). "Description of the chirodropid box jellyfish Chiropsella rudloei sp. nov. (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) from Madagascar". Marine Biodiversity Records. 6: e118. doi:10.1017/S1755267213000924. ISSN 1755-2672.
- ^ a b O’Connor, Megan; Garm, Anders; Nilsson, Dan-E. (2009-06-01). "Structure and optics of the eyes of the box jellyfish Chiropsella bronzie". Journal of Comparative Physiology A. 195 (6): 557–569. doi:10.1007/s00359-009-0431-x. ISSN 1432-1351.
- ^ a b Coates, M. M. (2003-08-01). "Visual Ecology and Functional Morphology of Cubozoa (Cnidaria)". Integrative and Comparative Biology. 43 (4): 542–548. doi:10.1093/icb/43.4.542. ISSN 1540-7063.
- ^ Morandini, André Carrara; Soares, Marcelo de Oliveira; Matthews-Cascon, Helena; Marques, Antonio Carlos (2006). "A survey of the Scyphozoa and Cubozoa (Cnidaria, Medusozoa) from the Ceará coast (NE Brazil)". Biota Neotropica. 6 (2). doi:10.1590/s1676-06032006000200021. ISSN 1676-0603.
- ^ a b Gurska, Daniela; Garm, Anders (2014-07-21). "Cell Proliferation in Cubozoan Jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora and Alatina moseri". PLOS ONE. 9 (7): e102628. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0102628. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4105575. PMID 25047715.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ "Stinging cells help jellyfish to mate". Nature. 524 (7566): 390–390. 2015-08. doi:10.1038/524390c. ISSN 1476-4687.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ says, Hatty Shi (2017-03-13). "How Do Box Jellyfish Reproduce | Box Jellyfish Life Cycle & Reproduction -". Box Jellyfish. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
- ^ a b c Gordon, M.; Hatcher, C.; Seymour, J. (2004-11). "Growth and age determination of the tropical Australian cubozoan Chiropsalmus sp". Hydrobiologia. 530–531 (1–3): 339–345. doi:10.1007/s10750-004-2655-7. ISSN 0018-8158.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Chiropsalmus quadrigatus Haeckel, 1880". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
- ^ a b c Toshino, Sho; Miyake, Hiroshi; Shibata, Haruka (2015-05-11). "Meteorona kishinouyei, a new family, genus and species (Cnidaria, Cubozoa, Chirodropida) from Japanese Waters". ZooKeys (503): 1–21. doi:10.3897/zookeys.503.9047. ISSN 1313-2989. PMC 4440269. PMID 26019668.
{{cite journal}}: line feed character in|title=at position 10 (help)CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Winter, Kelly L.; Fernando, Ross; Ramasamy, Sharmaine; Seymour, Jamie E.; Isbister, Geoffrey K.; Hodgson, Wayne C. (2007-01-10). "The in vitro vascular effects of two chirodropid (Chironex fleckeri and Chiropsella bronzie) venoms". Toxicology Letters. 168 (1): 13–20. doi:10.1016/j.toxlet.2006.10.011. ISSN 0378-4274.