Class STAUROZOA Haeckel, 1880

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Introduction

The Staurozoa is the Cnidaria's newest class, being officially recognised for the first time in 2004 (Marques & Collins, 2004). As defined, it comprises the benthic Stauromedusae plus the fossil Conulatae, the latter long throught to be ancestors of the coronate scyphozoans.

Prior to being recognised as a class, the Stauromedusae were long considered to be an order of the Scyphozoa. However, they bear many morphological, behavioural, and developmental differences from the other scyphozoans, and the advent of molecular analysis has supported their uniqueness.

Diagnosis

The class Staurozoa was proposed by Marques & Collins (2004: 27) for the group previously known as the Stauromedusae sensu Haeckel. Specifically, Marques and Collins demonstrated that the stauromedusae collectively form the sister group to the Cubozoa, thus making their historical inclusion in the Class Scyphozoa now untenable. Thus, the work of Marques and Collins is an advancement to scientific knowledge, but the credit of the name should nonetheless remain with Haeckel according to the Principle of Coordination (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999).

The Staurozoa comprises the benthic Cnidaria of the orders Stauromedusae and Conulatae.

Diagnosis References

Marques, A.C. & Collins, A.G. 2004. Cladistic analysis of Medusozoa and cnidarian evolution. Invertebrate Biology 123(1): 23–42 [27]

General References

Marques, A.C. & Collins, A.G. 2004. Cladistic analysis of Medusozoa and cnidarian evolution. Invertebrate Biology 123(1): 23–42

History of changes