Tamoya ohboya
| Tamoya ohboya | ||||||||||||
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Tamoya ohboya |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tamoya ohboya | ||||||||||||
| Collins , Bentlage , Gillan , Lynn , Morandini & Marques , 2011 |
Tamoya ohboya ( English Bonaire banded box jelly ) is a type of box jellyfish (Cubozoa) from the Tamoyidae family . The unusual species name goes back to a suggestion made by a teacher on the Internet and which was voted for by the majority in the subsequent election on the Internet. It contains the surprise expression "Oh Boy", which is widely used in English.
features
The bell-shaped umbrella of the medusa is 61 mm high in the holotype and has a diameter of 29 mm. A Paratype is a bit larger with a height of 67 mm and a diameter of 32 mm. The screen, which is divided into eight radii, is translucent and densely covered with distinct warts on which nettle cells are concentrated. The pedalia are also covered with warts bearing nettle cells on both the outer keel and the inner wing. The wing of the Pedalia is shaped like a scalpel. The kink of the pedal canal shows a distinct spinous process. The tentacles are typically transversely banded; alternating red or orange-red with brown. They are slightly bulged at the base and round in cross-section. The perradial gonads are arranged as leaf-shaped layers. The stomach extends into the subumbrellar space for about a third of the height of the umbrella. The stomach is attached to the subumbrella by four well-developed, mesenteric ligaments. The manubrium without nettle cell warts is cruciform in cross section. The lips are rectangular with rounded edges and again covered with nettle cell warts. The rhopalia (sensory body) have two median lens eyes and four lateral eye spots (two pits and two slits). The statolith is egg-shaped. He sits in a pit of the senses, the edges of which are somewhat raised.
The velarium is relatively wide with numerous channels per octant . Diverticula are mainly formed at the end of the canals. On the exumbrellar side, the velarium is irregularly provided with nettle cell warts. The four frenulae each consist of two layers that intercept the right-angled connection from the top of the rhopalial pit to the velarium (about 3/4 of the distance between the velarium envelope and the edge). Perradial flaps are not present. The gastric phacelles form four bands, one band per per radius, which run perpendicularly from the upper stomach wall to the gastric sphincter . There are numerous gastric cirrus , each branching like a tree.
The cnidoma includes the following types of nettle cells:
- club-shaped, macrobasic p- eurytela (two types, which differ somewhat in size and length of the stylet), in the tentacle tips
- Lemon-shaped, microbasic birhopaloids, in the tentacles, on the manubrium and on the phacelles
- small, egg-shaped isorhizas, all over the body with the exception of the phacelles
- rounded, holothric isorhizas, all over the body with the exception of the nettle-cell warts at the apex of the umbrella
- small, egg-shaped amastigophores, on the tentacle base and the phacelles.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The distribution of the species is not yet known for certain. Over 50 confirmed sightings suggest a large distribution area in the Caribbean . Bonaire ( Netherlands Antilles , today "Special Municipality of the Netherlands" ), St. Lucia ( West Indies ), St. Vincent ( St. Vincent and the Grenadines ), Cozumel ( Mexico ) and Utila ( Honduras ) are documented by photos . A picture taken in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago suggests that the distribution area extends as far as the coasts of northeast Brazil.
The 50 confirmed sightings were all made in shallow water (<10 m depth), most (45) from the western edge of Bonaire.
Way of life
So far, very little is known about the way of life and, above all, the life cycle. The species seems to be a solitary hunter, as so far only a single animal has almost always been observed. The animals are probably diurnal, since all observations were made during the day so far. They are fast swimmers.
The great majority of the observations come from the months of July to September; few observations are available from the other months.
Dangerousness
All box jellyfish have more or less powerful poisons that they use for prey capture and defense. The poisons are injected into the prey, enemies or chance encounters by means of the numerous nettle cells. They are also potentially dangerous to humans. So far, there have been three confirmed cases of people being stung by Tamoya ohboya . The species does not appear to be as venomous as some of the Pacific species. In one case, the stabbed person had to be taken to hospital. The sting caused severe pain and skin irritation. In another case, severe skin damage was found in addition to severe pain.
literature
- Allen G. Collins, Bastian Bentlage, William Gillan, Tara H. Lynn, André C. Morandini and Antonio C. Marques: Naming the Bonaire banded box jelly, Tamoya ohboya, n. Sp. (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Carybdeida: Tamoyidae). Zootaxa, 2753: 53-68, 2011 PDF