Lewis Cheryl, Bentlage Bastian, Yanagihara Angel, Gillan William, Blerk Johan Van, Keil Daniel P, Bely Alexandra E, Collins Allen G
Biological Sciences Graduate Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA National Systematics Laboratory, National Museum of Natural History, MRC-153, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA; Email:
National Systematics Laboratory, National Museum of Natural History, MRC-153, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; Email:
Zootaxa. 2013 Nov 21;3737:473-87. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3737.4.8.
Here we establish a neotype for Alatina alata (Reynaud, 1830) from the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire. The species was originally described one hundred and eighty three years ago as Carybdea alata in La Centurie Zoologique-a monograph published by René Primevère Lesson during the age of worldwide scientific exploration. While monitoring monthly reproductive swarms of A. alata medusae in Bonaire, we documented the ecology and sexual reproduction of this cubozoan species. Examination of forty six A. alata specimens and additional archived multimedia material in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC revealed that A. alata is found at depths ranging from surface waters to 675 m. Additional studies have reported it at depths of up to 1607 m in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean. Herein, we resolve the taxonomic confusion long associated with A. alata due to a lack of detail in the original description and conflicting statements in the scientific literature. A new cubozoan character, the velarial lappet, is described for this taxon. The complete description provided here serves to stabilize the taxonomy of the second oldest box jellyfish species, and provide a thorough redescription of the species.
在此，我们为来自荷属加勒比海博内尔岛的艾氏艾拉水母（Alatina alata，雷诺，1830年）建立了一个新模式。该物种最初于183年前在《动物学世纪》中被描述为翼手艾拉水母（Carybdea alata），《动物学世纪》是勒内·普里梅韦尔·勒松在全球科学探索时代出版的一部专著。在监测博内尔岛艾氏艾拉水母每月的繁殖群体时，我们记录了这种立方水母物种的生态和有性繁殖情况。对华盛顿特区国家自然历史博物馆收藏的46个艾氏艾拉水母标本以及其他存档的多媒体资料进行检查后发现，艾氏艾拉水母分布于从表层水到675米的深度范围内。其他研究报告称，在热带和亚热带大西洋中，其分布深度可达1607米。在此，我们解决了长期以来与艾氏艾拉水母相关的分类学混乱问题，这是由于原始描述缺乏细节以及科学文献中的相互矛盾的陈述所致。我们为这个分类单元描述了一个新的立方水母特征——缘膜瓣。这里提供的完整描述有助于稳定第二古老的箱形水母物种的分类，并对该物种进行全面的重新描述。
