Species Pelagia panopyra (Péron & Lesueur, 1807)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Pelagia panopyra Péron, F. 1807. Voyage de découvertes aux terres Australes, exécuté par ordre de sa Majeste l'Empereur et Roi, sur les Corvettes le Geographe, le Naturaliste, et la Goelette le Casuarina, pendant les années 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804. Historique: Tom. 1. [pl. 31].

Distribution

Extra Distribution Information

Widely reported thoughout the Pacific.

Ecological Descriptors

Carnivorous, epipelagic, marine, neritic, planktonic.

Diagnosis

Pelagia with a stiff, globular body; with small, roundish or elliptical low-set gelatinous warts on the exumbrella; with a distinctive translucent pinkish colouration throughout.

Notes

The original description of Medusa panopyra is based only on a plate, with no accompanying written details.

The species has been reported from many localities throughout the tropics of the world, especially the Pacific. However, the taxonomy of species in the genus Pelagia is often confused and badly in need of revision.

The species was first reported in Australian waters by Haeckel (1880), without being specific as to any particular locality. Later, von Lendenfeld (1884d) and Dakin and Colfax (1933) reported it from northern Australia, Bloomfield (1959) reported it from Queensland, and Pope (1963) and Thomas (1963) reported it from New South Wales.

The species Pelagia panopyra is not typically regarded as valid in contemporary literature. However, there is a very common species of Pelagia in southeastern Australian waters, and occasionally found elsewhere, which matches the original figure perfectly. The group is badly in need of revision to determine the validity of P. panopyra as well as its relationship to its congeners.

General References

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] [571]

History of changes