Meeting Abstract

136.1  Monday, Jan. 7  Establishing the neotype of the enigmatic oceanic box jellyfish Alatina alata (Reynaud 1830) (Cnidaria: Cubozoa). LEWIS AMES, C*; YANAGIHARA, AA; KEIL, D; LAWLEY, JW; VAN BLERK, J; GILLAN, B; BENTLAGE, B; BELY, A; COLLINS, AG; University of Maryland, College Park/Smithsonian NMNH; Pacific Biosciences Research Center, HI; University of Maryland, College Park; Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil; Bonaire, The Netherlands; Boynton Beach Community High School, Fl; University of Maryland, College Park; University of Maryland, College Park; NMFS, NSL, Smithsonian NMNH clames1@umd.edu

The “winged box jellyfish” Alatina alata has had a troubled taxonomic past. It was first discovered in the Atlantic Ocean and described as Carybdea alata Reynaud 1930, but no holotype was established, rendering the original description and accompanying line drawing as the only definitive reference for the species for more than 182 years. More than a century went by until C. alata was reported again in the Atlantic Ocean, despite various accounts in tropical Indo-Pacific waters. Notorious for causing the debilitating Irukandji-like syndrome, Alatina populations are relevant to the tourism industry, as they form monthly massive reproductive swarms 8-10 days after the full moon in some locations. Paradoxically, Alatina medusae have also been collected in the open ocean at great depths, an atypical habitat for cubomedusae, which usually occupy shallow coastal waters. Recently, nine nominal species formerly synonymized under the name C. alata were restored as different species within the new genus Alatina, leaving the epithet Alatina alata as the new combination for the only Atlantic species in the genus. Our recent discovery of a thriving Caribbean Alatina population in Bonaire (The Netherlands) allowed us to examine live medusae from the Atlantic, and to monitor monthly spawning events. Herein, we redescribe A. alata and establish a neotype for the species. Furthermore, we present results of molecular analyses of three geographical populations that support the hypothesis of a single widespread, variable species called A. alata (Reynaud 1830) by nomenclatural precedence.