CARYBDEIDA Gegenbaur, 1857

Bentlage, Bastian & Lewis, Cheryl, 2012, An illustrated key and synopsis of the families and genera of carybdeid box jellyfishes (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Carybdeida), with emphasis on the “ Irukandji family ” (Carukiidae), Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 46 (41 - 42), pp. 2595-2620 : 2599

Order CARYBDEIDA Gegenbaur, 1857

Cubozoa with a single tentacle per pedalium ( Figure 2 ).

Families. Alatinidae , Carukiidae , Carybdeidae , Tamoyidae and Tripedaliidae .

1. Rhopaliar niche ostium T-shaped ( Figure 3B )................... Alatinidae Rhopaliar niche ostium not T-shaped.................................... 2

2. Rhopaliar niche ostium heart-shaped ( Figure 3C )............. Carybdeidae Rhopaliar niche ostium keyhole-shaped ( Figure 3D ) or frown-shaped (horizontal oval; Figure 3E, F )............................................... 3

3. Rhopaliar niche ostium frown-shaped with rhopaliar horns ( Figure 3G ); stomach lacking gastric phacellae.............................. Carukiidae Rhopaliar niche ostium frown-shaped ( Figure 3F ), lacking rhopaliar horns; gastric phacellae vertical ( Figure 3H, I )......................... Tamoyidae

Rhopaliar niche ostium keyhole-shaped ( Figure 3D ) or alternatively rhopaliar niche ostium frown-shaped ( Figure 3E ); two or three pedalia per corner instead of one ( Figure 3J ).................................... Tripedaliidae

Figures

Figure 2. Representative species of box jellyfish from each family of Carybdeida (A–E) and one from Chirodropida (F). Note that the chirodropid possesses multiple tentacles per pedalium (F) whereas the carybdeid species possess only a single tentacle per pedalium (A–E). (A) Tamoya ohboya (Tamoyidae; image courtesy of Tim Lowry), (B) Malo kingi (Carukiidae), (C) male and female of Copula sivickisi coupling during courtship (Tripedaliidae; image courtesy of Alvaro Migotto), (D) Carybdea branchi (Carybdeidae; image courtesy of Brent Viljoen), (E) Alatina sp. (Alatinidae), (F) Chiropsalmus quadrumanus (Chiropsalmidae).sb: swimming bell, pe: pedalium, te: tentacle.

Figure 3. Key characters for identification of the Carybdeida: (A) location of taxonomic characters (Carybdea brevipedalia; image courtesy of Alvaro Migotto), (B) T-shaped rhopaliar niche ostium; note the three scales covering the niche, thus leaving a T-shaped ostium, (C) heartshaped rhopaliar niche ostium; niche ostium with only one upper covering scale, (D) key-hole shaped rhopaliar niche ostium in Copula sivickisi, (E) frown-shaped rhopaliar niche ostium in Tripedalia, (F) frown-shaped rhopaliar niche ostium in Tamoya, (G) frown-shaped rhopaliar niche ostium with rhopaliar horns in Malo, (H, I) vertical gastric phacellae in the stomach of Tamoya, (J) multiple pedalia on each corner of the swimming bell in Tripedalia, (K) crescentric gastric phacellae in Alatina (apical view). cs: covering scale, ma: manubrium, ph: gastric phacellae (comprises gastric cirri) in the stomach cavity, pc: pedalial canal, pcb: pedalial canal bend, pe: pedalium, rh: rhopalium, rn: rhopaliar niche that opens on the exumbrellar side of the bell with the rhopaliar niche ostium, rno: rhopaliar niche ostium, rho: rhopaliar horn, sto: stomach, te: tentacle, ve: velarium, vec: velarial canal.