Two new jellyfishes (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) from tropical Australian waters

Abstract

Two new species of scyphozoan jellyfishes from tropical Australian waters are described. The first, Sanderia pampinosus, n. sp., from waters off northern Western Australia, represents the first record of the genus from Australia. It differs from its only other congener, S. malayensis Goette, 1886, in having: (1) almost double the number of gonadal papillae at about half the body size; (2) horseshoe-shaped gonadal rings; and (3) eradial tentacles that are flattened in the oral-aboral direction and have nematocyst clusters on all sides. The second species, Netrostoma nuda, n. sp., from the Great Barrier Reef region, has been erroneously identified in the past as N. coerulescens. Species distinctions in the genus rely on the number and relative position of warts or papillae on the central dome; in contrast, N. nuda lacks warts and papillae, and instead has a large gelatinous knob at the apex of the bell. A key to the species of Netrostoma is provided, along with a synoptic list of previous reports of scyphozoans in tropical Australian waters.