Paraphyllina

Gershwin, Lisa-Ann & Zeidler, Wolfgang, 2008, Some new and previously unrecorded Scyphomedusae (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) from southern Australian coastal waters, Zootaxa 1744, pp. 1-18 : 3

Paraphyllina sp.

Material examined. AM G16042, east of Brush Island, NSW, 35° 36’S 150° 55’E, FRV Kapala , JP 77-13, 27.x.1977; female, 36.8 mm BD. AM G16026, same collection data as AM G16042, seven specimens (BD 21.5, 35.8, 33.6, 37.1, 26.5, 29.1 & 13.8 mm).

Remarks. This is the first record of a species of Paraphyllina from Australia. These specimens differ morphologically from forms previously described by Maas (1903) and Russell (1956a), and studied meticulously by Russell (1970). Periphyllina is characterized by W-shaped gonads and a dome-shaped central disk, as well as perradial rhopalia, separating it from Periphylla which has interradial rhopalia. Our identification of the New South Wales medusae as a species of Paraphyllina was based on the rhopalia being perradial; however, these specimens possess the following combination of atypical characters: male gonads were distinctly U-shaped, female gonads were tear-drop-shaped, the pigmented stomach region was distinctly conical, and all specimens possessed a conspicuous apical spire. Furthermore, phacellae were unusual, being cruciform along the attachment corners of the stomach. Phacellae are cruciform between attachment corners of the stomach in Periphylla , but triangular in the attachment corners of the stomach in Paraphyllina .

While our form seems to differ from those previously described, proper description requires comparative study with overseas types, as well as collection of fresh material, both beyond the scope of this paper.