Pelagia

Gershwin, Lisa-Ann & Zeidler, Wolfgang, 2008, Some new and previously unrecorded Scyphomedusae (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) from southern Australian coastal waters, Zootaxa 1744, pp. 1-18 : 15

Pelagia sp.

Material examined. AM G 17077, Athol Bay, NSW (no collection date given); 4 male specimens (BD 32.9mm, 43.4mm, 39.4mm, 52.2mm).

Remarks. Pelagia is a frequent visitor to New South Wales, but the specimens from the present collection are quite distinct from the form most commonly encountered, typically identified as P. noctiluca . Whereas the common form is about 3cm across the bell, with a firm and nearly opaque mauve body, and conspicuous shallow blind-ending rhopaliar pits, the present form has a much larger, extremely transparent body, and no rhopaliar pits. The tentacles, in particular, are noteworthy, as they are considerably finer in this form than typically observed for the local Pelagia .

Two species of Pelagia are generally considered valid ( Russell 1970): P. noctiluca , which is widespread in the warmer waters of the world’s oceans, and P. flaveola , restricted to the tropical Pacific; Russell’s (1964) Pelagia colorata was reclassified as a Chrysaora ( Gershwin & Collins 2002) . The present form is unlike the commonly encountered, stiff-bodied Australian form, nor does it seem to match descriptions of published forms, but further study is necessary to determine its identity.