Cestum veneris Lesueur, 1813

Gueroun, Sonia Km, Schäfer, Susanne, Gizzi, Francesca, Álvarez, Soledad, Monteiro, João Gama, Andrade, Carlos & Canning-Clode, João, 2021, Planktonic Ctenophora of the Madeira Archipelago (Northeastern Atlantic), Zootaxa 5081 (3), pp. 433-443 : 438

Cestum veneris Lesueur, 1813

( Table 1 , Fig. 4A )

Synonymes: Cestus pectinalis Bigelow, 1904 ; Cestus veneris Chun, 1879

Examined material: Southeast Porto Santo Island, 33°03’05”N 16°20’09”W. One specimen was observed at 12 m depth, near the sand floor, during a SCUBA dive .

Description: Body laterally expanded and flattened, long and ribbon-like, around 1 m in width, transparent. Presence of purplish-black pigment on its wingtips (brown-yellowish colour on the video record due to the light spectrum gradient) ( Fig. 4A 2 ).

Remark: While no individual was clearly photographed, some reports indicate C. veneris occurrence in the southern part of the Madeira Island (Peter Wirtz pers. comm).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Eurhamphaea vexilligera Gegenbaur, 1856. A, total view of an adult in the stomodaeal plane; B, view of the aboral portion of the body in the stomodaeal plane; C, view of a body section in the stomodaeal plane. Legends: a.f, aboral process/ filament; ap, apical horn-shape; au, auricle; i.v, ink vesicle; mo, mouth; ss.c, substomdaeal ctene row; ss.mc, substomodaeal meridional canal; sta, statocysts; st.cr, subtentacular ctene row; st, stomodaeum (pharynx). Photo credits: S.K.M Gueroun

FIGURE 4. Photographies of (A1) Cestum veneris Lesueur, 1813 and (A2) the purplish-black pigment on its wingtips; (B) Beroe sp. Müller, 1776. Photo credit: C. veneris: F. Gizzi; Beroe sp.: M. Buzinkai