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Different morphological types in Phyllorhiza punctata translate into adaptative changes?

Inês M. Duarte1, 2*, Sergio M. Leandro1, 2, Margarida Ferreira3, Carlos C. Pinto4, Joana Falcão2, Lénia D. Rato2, Paulo Maranhão1, 2 and Sónia C. Marques2, 5
  • 1 Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar, Politécnico de Leiria, Portugal
  • 2 Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente (IPLeiria), Portugal
  • 3 Oceanário de Lisboa, Portugal
  • 4 Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
  • 5 Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA), Portugal

The polyps of the scyphozoan Phyllorhiza punctata (Lendenfeld, 1884) produce medusae by transversal fission (strobilation). The young medusae, or ephyrae, display a tetraradial symmetry, with four mouth openings and 8 arms with a sense organ (rhopalium) at the end of each arm. However, in some occasions polyps produce ephyrae with 9 to 12 arms. The present study aimed to evaluate if the abnormal number of arms on ephyrae have a significant impact on their growth rate. Each experimental treatment (normal, abnormal) consisted on three replicate plastic buckets (1.0L) containing 5 ephyrae fed with a mix of rotifers and artemia nauplii. After 8 days, all individuals were measured and growth rate was estimated. The results showed that growth rates were significantly different (p<0.05). Ephyrae with more than 8 arms presented the highest growth rates. These results appear to indicate that ephyrae with more arms could have a significant ecological competitive advantage, however, more studies are required to understand if this apparent advantage is only present in laboratorial context or also in situ.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support by FCT through project UID/MAR/04292, Jellyfisheries (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016772), the Postdoctoral grants attributed to SC Marques (SFRH/BPD/110400/2015), and the Integrated Programme of SR&TD “Smart Valorization of Endogenous Marine Biological Resources Under a Changing Climate” (Centro-01-0145-FEDER-000018), co-funded by Centro 2020 program, Portugal 2020, European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund. The Oceanário de Lisboa is gratefully acknowledged.

Keywords: Cnidaria, Scyphozoa, Rhizostomae, Polyps, Ephyrae, growth rate, Phyllorhiza punctata

Conference: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, Peniche, Portugal, 5 Jul - 6 Jul, 2018.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: Aquaculture

Citation: Duarte IM, Leandro SM, Ferreira M, Pinto CC, Falcão J, Rato LD, Maranhão P and Marques SC (2019). Different morphological types in Phyllorhiza punctata translate into adaptative changes?. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2018.06.00079

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Received: 04 May 2018; Published Online: 07 Jan 2019.

* Correspondence: Miss. Inês M Duarte, Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar, Politécnico de Leiria, Peniche, Portugal, inesmatosduarte@gmail.com