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Abstract
Ephyrae and adult medusae of Phyllorhiza punctata were found in 2005 and 2006 in the Ionian Sea, Greece. The youngest ephyrae had a diameter of 1.5 mm and already contained symbiotic zooxanthellae. The biggest medusae, with 45 cm bell diameter, were found in September 2005 in the Bay of Vlyho on the Ionian Island Lefkada. There they occurred simultaneously with ephyrae and young medusae. Adult medusae were also observed in September 2006 in the harbour of Igoumenitsa. In a laboratory maintenance trial, collected ephyrae grew to an umbrella diameter of 4.6 cm in 60 days. This is the first record of a reproducing population of tropical medusae in the Central Mediterranean Sea.
Highlights
Phyllorhiza punctata von Lendenfeld, 1884 (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae) is a tropical jellyfish with a distribution range from Australia to Japan (Heeger et al 1992)
In the Mediterranean Sea, P. punctata medusae have to date only been recorded for the eastern Levantine province (Galil et al 1990, Atta 1991)
The records from the eastern Levantine province suggest entry from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal (Galil 1990, Jarms 2003), whether by drift or transported by vessels
Summary
Phyllorhiza punctata von Lendenfeld, 1884 (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae) is a tropical jellyfish with a distribution range from Australia to Japan (Heeger et al 1992). Invasive migrations to several other tropical seas outside its main habitat are recorded (Garcia 1990, Perry et al 2000, Silveira and Cornelius 2000, Graham et al 2003, NAS 2006). In the Mediterranean Sea, P. punctata medusae have to date only been recorded for the eastern Levantine province (Galil et al 1990, Atta 1991). Lendenfeld (1884, 1888), Mayer (1910) and Kramp (1961); further literature is available for its swimming and foraging behaviour (Garcia and Durbin 1993, D’Ambra et al 2001), reproduction (Rippingale and Kelly 1995), ephyrae (Tronelone et al 2002), and its culture in aquaria (Lange and Kaiser 1995). We report on the occurrence of a reproducing P. punctata population in the central Mediterranean Sea
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