Genus Chiropsalmus Agassiz, 1862

Museums

Regional Maps

• Chiropsalmus 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. [174].

  Type species:

   Tamoya quadrumana Agassiz, 1862 by original designation.

Distribution

Recorded from "Australia".

Extra Distribution Information

United States of America: Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas; Belize, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela

Diagnosis

Chiropsalmidae with nematocyst warts on the exumbrella; with rounded hump in the pedalial canal bend; with finger-shaped, pendant gastric saccules; with well developed lateral gonads; with tentacles narrow in width and round in cross section; lacking mesenteries.

Diagnosis References

Gershwin, L. 2006. Comments on Chiropsalmus (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Chirodropida): a preliminary revision of the Chiropsalmidae, with descriptions of two new species. Zootaxa 1231: 1-42 [6]

Misidentifications

Notes on Chiropsalmus quadrigatus:
A very large number of references to C. quadrigatus in Australian waters were listed and discussed by Gershwin (2006a); all were demonstrated to be erroneous identifications and referable to Chiropsella bronzie. As detailed therein, the true ‘quadrigatus’ from Burma has linear-branching pedalia and therefore was assigned therein to the genus Chiropsoides Horst, and the true Chiropsalmus has exumbrellar nematocyst warts and short pendant gastric saccules, and appears to be restricted to north and south American waters on both sides. Neither Chiropsalmus nor quadrigatus have ever been credibly found in Australia.

General References

Gershwin, L. 2006. Comments on Chiropsalmus (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Chirodropida): a preliminary revision of the Chiropsalmidae, with descriptions of two new species. Zootaxa 1231: 1-42 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)

History of changes