Species Cassiopea dieuphila Péron & Lesueur, 1810

Museums

Regional Maps

• Cassiopea dieuphila Péron, F. & Lesueur, C.A. 1810. Tableau des caractères génériques et spécifiques de toutes les espèces de méduses connues jusqu'à ce jour. Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris 14: 325–366 [356].

  Type data:

   Holotype MNHP ?, Northwest coast of Australia, in the Indian Ocean
  Comment: According to Mayer (1910: 636), 'Haeckel enjoyed the opportunity of studying Péron and Lesueur's original specimen preserved in Paris.' In February 2001, however, the curatorial staff had no knowledge of this specimen, or any others from Péron and Lesueur (Gershwin unpublished correspondence).

Distribution

States

Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Originally collected at de Witt's Land (the Kimberley & Pilbara regions, WA), it has not been reported since.

Ecological Descriptors

Marine.

Diagnosis

Cassiopea with the umbrella semi-spherical 2-3 times as broad as high. Margin with 95 short coalescing flaps, in each Octant 10 velar flaps between two very small ocular flaps. Ex-umbrella roughly granulated, studded with warts with small oral white spots on the marginal flaps. 8 arms about as long as the Umbrella-radius. With 3 or 4 pair of broad and flat main branches. Between the clusters of crisps numerous, small, and 10 or 20 large club-shaped vesicles. The latter 2 or 3 times as long as the breadth of the main branches. Colour : Umbrella brownish-red, with white spots on the margin flaps. Gonads and vesicles white. Size: Diameter of Umbrella, 60-80 mm. Height, 20-30 mm.

Diagnosis References

Von Lendenfeld, R. 1884. The scyphomedusae of the southern hemisphere. Part III. - Conclusion. IV. Ordo - Discomedusae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 9: 259–306 [283]

Notes

Lamarck (1816: 511) renamed it Cassiopea theophila; Eschscholtz (1829: 53) transferred it to Rhizostoma theophila; L. Agassiz (1862: 159) transferred it to Polyclonia theophila; Haeckel, 1880: 566-567 transferred it to Toreuma theophila; von Lendenfeld, 1884d: 283 regarded it valid as Toreuma theophila; Mayer, 1910: 636 regarded it as valid as Toreuma dieuphila; Stiasny, 1921b: 61 synonymized Toreuma into Cassiopea without further comment; Kramp, 1961 did not treat it.

General References

Agassiz, L. 1862. Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America. Second monograph. In five parts — Pt. I Acalephs in general. Pt. II Ctenophore. Pt. III. Discophorae. Pt. IV. Hydroidae. Pt. V. Homologies of the Radiata. Boston, London : Little Brown, Trubner Vol. IV i-viii, 380 pp. + (1-10), pls 20-35. [159]

Eschscholtz, F. 1829. System der Acalephen. Eine ausführliche Beschreibung aller medusenartigen Strahltiere. Berlin : F. Dummlert. [53]

Kramp, P.L. 1961. Synopsis of the medusae of the world. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 40: 1-469

Mayer, A.G. 1910. Medusae of the World. Vol. 1 and 2, The Hydromedusae. Vol. 3, The Scyphomedusae. Washington, D.C. : Carnegie Institution 735 pp., 76 pls. [reprinted by A. Asher & Co., 1977] [636]

History of changes