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Issue: Vol. 2753 No. 1: 31 Jan. 2011
Type: Articles
Published: 2011-01-31
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2753.1.3
Page range: 53–68
Abstract views: 94
PDF downloaded: 43

Naming the Bonaire banded box jelly, Tamoya ohboya, n. sp. (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Carybdeida: Tamoyidae)

National Systematics Laboratory of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Museum of Natural History, MRC-153, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
National Systematics Laboratory of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Museum of Natural History, MRC-153, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Kansas, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
AP and Honors Biology Teacher, Palm Beach County (FL) Schools, Boynton Beach Community High School, 4975 Park Ridge Boulevard, Boynton Beach, FL, 33426, USA
National Systematics Laboratory of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Museum of Natural History, MRC-153, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão trav. 14, n. 101, São Paulo, SP, 05508-090, BRAZIL
Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão trav. 14, n. 101, São Paulo, SP, 05508-090, BRAZIL
Coelenterata nematocysts cnidome stings citizen science taxonomic impediment

Abstract

A new species of cubozoan jellyfish has been discovered in shallow waters of Bonaire, Netherlands (Dutch Caribbean). Thus far, approximately 50 sightings of the species, known commonly as the Bonaire banded box jelly, are recorded, and three specimens have been collected. Three physical encounters between humans and the species have been reported. Available evidence suggests that a serious sting is inflicted by this medusa. To increase awareness of the scientific disciplines of systematics and taxonomy, the public has been involved in naming this new species. The Bonaire banded box jelly, Tamoya ohboya, n. sp., can be distinguished from its close relatives T. haplonema from Brazil and T. sp. from the southeastern United States by differences in tentacle coloration, cnidome, and mitochondrial gene sequences. Tamoya ohboya n. sp. possesses striking dark brown to reddish-orange banded tentacles, nematocyst warts that densely cover the animal, and a deep stomach. We provide a detailed comparison of nematocyst data from Tamoya ohboya n. sp., T. haplonema from Brazil, and T. sp. from the Gulf of Mexico.

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