Acromitus flagellatus Maas, 1903

Aspe, Nonillon M. & James, Samuel W., 2017, Pheretima monotheca, Zoological studies 55 (35), pp. 1-19 : 6

Acromitus flagellatus Maas, 1903

( Fig. 1c )

Class: Scyphozoa

Family: Catostylidae (Gegenbaur 1857)

Genus: Acromitus (Light 1914)

Description: This species has eight long oral arms. The exumbrella is rarely spotless, usually having an uneven distribution of black or dark brown spots. Colour may vary from light red or pink, grey and white or translucent. The distinguishing characteristics of A. flagellatus are oral arms as long as or longer than the diameter of the exumbrella, and long distinctive flagellae or “whip-like” terminal clubs. The terminal clubs are usually white. The species has no sting. The average size collected was 100 cm in diameter.

Distribution and habitat: The species is found in mangrove areas and estuaries on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The geographic distribution of A. flagellatus includes the Malay Archipelago, Borneo, Java, Indian Ocean, India, Japan and Taiwan ( Kramp 1961).

Figures

Fig. 1. Jellyfish species collected in Malaysian waters. Cubozoan jellyfish; Morbakka sp. (a), Chiropsoides buitendijki (b); Scyphozoan jellyfish; Acromitus flagellatus (c), Catostylus townsendi (d), Cephea cephea (e), Chrysaora chinensis (f), Cyanea sp. (g), Lobonemoides robustus (h), Mastigias sp. (i), Phyllorhiza punctata (j), Rhopilema hispidum (k) and Rhopilema esculentum (l).