New Records of Cubozoan and Scyphozoan Jellyfish from Sabah Waters, Malaysia

Chee Hoe Chuan,Muhammad Ali Syed Hussein,Kai Ching Cheong,Ejria Saleh,Balu Alagar Venmathi Maran,Tzuen Kiat Yap

doi:10.3390/d13090420

Abstract

Jellyfish play a vital role in the ocean’s ecosystem, acting as a nursery for young fishes, crabs, and brittle stars, as well as a source of food for certain charismatic megafauna, such as sunfish and sea turtles. They also pose a threat to human activities, with jellyfish blooms negatively impacting fisheries, power generation, and tourism. However, very little information is available on the biodiversity of jellyfish within the waters of Borneo. Here, we present new records of jellyfish found along the coast of Sabah, Malaysia, located in northern Borneo, bordering the megadiverse region of the Coral Triangle. A total of six species belonging to two classes and six families hitherto not recorded to the state are reported, Chironex yamaguchii, Acromitus maculosus, Crambione mastigophora, Linuche aquila, Netrostoma sp., and Phyllorhiza punctata. Of these, two species (C. yamaguchii and L. aquila) are harmful to humans, with C. yamaguchii capable of causing human fatalities. Reports of harmful jellyfish are useful to the medical and tourism industry, as some of these species may inflict stings and adverse reactions to humans ranging from rashes and skin irritation to fatal envenomation. A checklist has also been provided for all collected jellyfish species from Sabah waters of Borneo, Malaysia.

Highlights

Jellyfish play an important part in the ocean’s ecosystems, acting as intermediary predators, which distribute the energy within the same trophic level of the food chain [1], and providing a shelter for juveniles of various species in a complex relationship, which involves transport, a source of food, and protection from predators [2,3,4]
The species were Chironex yamaguchii Lewis & Bentlage, 2009; Acromitus maculosus Light, 1914; Crambione mastigophora Maas, 1903; Linuche aquila (Haeckel, 1880); Netrostoma sp.; and Phyllorhiza punctata von Lendenfeld, 1884. These species are from the classes Cubozoa and Scyphozoa, with Chironex yamaguchii belonging to class Cubozoa and the other species belonging to class Scyphozoa
A greater degree of study is still needed in this field for the interest of public health and to ensure the tourism industry of the state is not negatively affected due to injuries and deaths caused by harmful jellyfish

Summary

Introduction

Jellyfish play an important part in the ocean’s ecosystems, acting as intermediary predators, which distribute the energy within the same trophic level of the food chain [1], and providing a shelter for juveniles of various species in a complex relationship, which involves transport, a source of food, and protection from predators [2,3,4] They are still relatively understudied in Malaysia, with limited documentation of species diversity in the nation’s waters. Jellyfish have been shown in recent years to be of increasing importance to human activities in the coastal regions They have been implicated in causing losses to the marine fisheries and aquaculture sectors [8] via a number of causes. Mostly involving the scyphozoan Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1758), have caused numerous power plant disruptions in Asia, Arabia, and America, when jellyfish blooms clog up the saltwater intakes of the plant, damaging the rotary screens and either causing a reduction in power output or shutting down power generation completely [14,15,16]

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