Chiropsella beard
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
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| Gershwin & Alderslade , 2006 |
Chiropsella beard is a type of box jellyfish (Cubozoa) from the family of Chiropsellidae . It is one of the few only slightly poisonous types of box jellyfish.
features
The medusa reaches a shade height of about 5 cm. The mesogloea is relatively thick and firm with a thickened and firm apical dome and interradial pillars. The apex is surrounded by a shallow furrow. The radial furrows are clearly defined. The exumbral surface is smooth and has no nematocyst -covered warts or spots.
The pedalia are relatively long, scalpel-like and branch out relatively late into five finger-like structures. These structures face each other on the longitudinal axis of the pedal. At the tip of each finger sits a tentacle. One specimen has a bud of a sixth finger, so the total number of tentacles can be given as 20 to 24. The pedal canals are flattened in cross-section with a conical diverticulum at their base. At the end the channels usually branch once (bifurcat).
The rhopalium pit is raised slightly above the surface of the outside of the screen. It is roughly rectangular. The rhopalium has six eyes, two lens eyes and two pairs of lateral pigment eyes . The statolith sits under the main lens eye and not behind the eye (as in many other species).
The velarium canals start from two main canals in each octant and branch out very strongly. The perradial lobes are very broad, but hardly raised. The frenulum is a solid gelatinous structure that extends about 3/4 the length of the velarium .
The gastric pockets form relatively solid, bean-shaped structures that extend into the subumbrellar opening, not droop into it. The gonads are leaf-shaped and extend over the entire height of the umbrella. Interradial septa were not observed. The stomach is flat with very short mesenteries only as long as the phacellae. The mouth is cross-shaped with short, smooth lips. The cnidoma has four types of nematocyst: cigar-shaped microbasic p-mastigophores (39 to 45 μm × 8.8 to 11 μm, large, ball-shaped p-rhopaloids (21 to 26 μm × 12.7 to 14.4 μm, small, oval Isorhizas (9 to 9.5 μm × 6.9 to 7.7 μm and small rod-shaped isorhizas (13.2 to 14.2 μm × 6.5 to 7.3).
Geographical distribution and habitat
The species has so far only been known from the eastern Arnhem Land along the Gulf of Carpentaria . In contrast to other box jellyfish (e.g. Chironex fleckeri ) the species comes in the so-called "safe" time (i.e. the local dry season) from June to July.
Poisonous effect
Prints of Chiropsella revealed only result in a slight itching or burning sensation on the skin that lasts usually less than two hours. So far it is the most harmless species of the order Chirodropida, which otherwise mostly contains very poisonous species.
Systematics
The species is named after Prof. Bart Currie (Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, Northern Territory), who made many contributions to the medical aspects of box jellyfish. Together with a few other authors, he was the first to recognize the new species, which he only described in open nomenclature. The species name is used as a noun in apposition.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bart Currie, Melita McKinnon, Bernie Whelan and Philip Alderslade: The Gove chirodropid: a box jellyfish appearing in the "safe season". The Medical Journal of Australia, 177 (11/12): 649, 2002 [1]
literature
- Lisa-ann Gershwin and Philip Alderslade: Chiropsella bart n. Sp., A new box jellyfish (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Chirodropida) from the Northern Territory, Australia. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, 22: 15–21, Darwin 2006. ( PDF, 1.77MB , accessed February 1, 2012)