Beroe, BROWNE, 1756

Shiganova, Tamara A. & Abyzova, Galina A., 2022, Revision of Beroidae (Ctenophora) in the southern seas of Europe: systematics and distribution based on genetics and morphology, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 194, pp. 297-322 : 303

GENUS: BEROE BROWNE, 1756

Representatives of Beroida and Cydipida are presumed to be the most primitive species among the Ctenophora because of the absence of a transmission stage, like true larva, which exist in the Orders Lobata, Cestida and Platyctenida (Aggasiz, 1865; Greve et al., 1976; Harbison 1985; Podar et al. 2001). The phylogeny of ctenophores is still controversial and Simion et al. (2015) have suggested that Beroe is perhaps not monophyletic. All representatives of Beroe have an oval or conical body shape beginning from the aboral part and a wide-flaring mouth with a large stomodeum. They have eight meridional and two paragastral canals that originate from the funnel and extend down to the middle of the broad sides of the body. Inside the mouth of the Beroida , macrocilia are located. They are finger-shaped, compound, ciliary organelles ( Horridge, 1965; Harbison & Madin, 1982; Tamm, 1982). A single macrocilium contains hundreds or thousands (depending on the species) of hexagonally packed 9 + 2 axonemes, organized into many parallel rows ( Tamm & Tamm, 1993). Most Beroe species are pink, especially along the meridional canals and comb-rows. All Beroe species are highly luminescent and flashing with blue-green light along the comb rows. Most of them are simultaneous hermaphrodites, capable of self-fertilization ( Mianzan, 1999).