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This work is the first attempt to assess the biodiversity of the Hydrozoa in the Archipiélago de Bocas del Toro (Panamá, Caribbean Sea) using morphology and molecular taxonomy, and to produce field identification tools to help future identification and monitoring efforts in the area.
We sampled, identified, vouchered, and barcoded 112 specimens of...
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Context 1
... Archipiélago de Bocas del Toro, Panamá is located on the NW Caribbean shore of Panama, close to the Costa Rican border. It consists of more than 68 small islands and mangrove keys and is character- ized by diverse ecosystems, from mangrove domi- nated shallow water to coral reefs and sea grass meadows (see Figure 1 for a map). To date, 79 nominal species have been reported in the Bocas del Toro region [13]. ...
Context 2
... total of 11 sites were sampled. Localities sampled were: Bocas del Toro Marine Station docks/weather sta- tion, Punta Hospital, Crawl Cay, Bocatorito Bay vici- nity, San Cristobal, Vicinity of Manuguar Cay, Punta Caracol, Swans Cay, Bastimento vicinity of "Casa Verde", Bocas del Drago, Pandora, Almirante (Quary's point) (Table 1 and Figure 1). Polyps were collected by snorkeling (0-8 m depth) or SCUBA diving (18-22 m depth), and medusae by plankton towing using a net with 280µm mesh size. ...
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Biological systematics provides taxonomic information and expertise for biogeography and biological invasion research and management. However, the systematic classification of most taxa, including some alien and invasive species, relies only on morphology. This applies for example to Sertularella tongensis Stechow, 1919, an alien hydrozoan recently...
An account is given of the names of families, genera, and species of hydroids established by C.M. Fraser of Canada, excluding those from Allan Hancock Pacific Expeditions and the Allan Hancock Caribbean Sea Expedition. The names of four families, 11 genera, and 101 species are attributed to him in this work, complementing those of another two gener...
Citations
... (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.) 2021; Ellison et al., 2022;Miglietta et al., 2018;Torati et al., 2011). In contrast, fish diversity and abundance are noticeably lower inside Bahía Almirante than at many other Caribbean sites, with somewhat more typical fish faunas evident at the shallowest sites and the exposed sites outside the bay, which also have the most intact reef (Dominici-Arosemena and Wolff, 2005). ...
... In areas with little taxonomic exploration, such as tropical regions, limited information is available on species richness and biogeographic ranges of hydrozoans. Indeed, only one specific survey has been conducted to assess the diversity of hydrozoans along the Caribbean coast of Panama, and it reported 70 taxa (Miglietta et al. 2018). In the 1970s, Ángeles Alvariño (1974) surveyed the siphonophore diversity in Panama, encompassing the Pacific and Caribbean Seas adjacent to the Panama Canal, and reported 30 species. ...
... Here, we present a survey of fluorescence patterns across hydrozoans in Bocas del Toro, Panama. This survey includes hydroids, hydromedusae, and siphonophores in pelagic and nearshore areas of the region, complementing the few surveys conducted previously (Alvariño 1974, Miglietta et al. 2018. By expanding our knowledge of the observations and diversity of fluorescence patterns in hydrozoans, this study serves as a scaffold for documenting and understanding the overarching distribution of fluorescence across a diverse marine invertebrate group. ...
... Hydromedusae and polyps were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level using available literature (Kramp 1959, Cornelius 1995, Schuchert 2012, Miglietta et al. 2018, Schuchert and Collins 2021 and additional taxon-specific literature as necessary. Living specimens were analyzed using an Eclipse E200 compound microscope (Nikon, Tokyo, Japan) at various magnifications (40-100×), and larger specimens were observed using either an SMZ-1500 stereomicroscope (0.75-11.25×) (Nikon) or a Zoom 2000 stereomicroscope (7-30×) (Leica Camera AG, Wetzlar, Germany). ...
Many metazoans contain molecules capable of fluorescence, the absorption and re-emission of light. Since the anatomical distribution, or patterning, of these molecules is variable across taxa, patterns of fluorescence may serve as a powerful diagnostic tool in taxonomy and ecology. However, species-specific fluorescence patterns among marine invertebrates are poorly understood. Here, we show that hydrozoans have diverse fluorescence patterns, which may result from molecules that are produced intrinsically or obtained from dietary sources. We surveyed hydrozoans including siphonophores, hydromedusae, and hydroids across 5 orders from pelagic and benthic marine environments in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Our findings show that fluorescence patterns are highly prevalent and may vary across hydrozoan species and throughout development. Most of the examined hydrozoan taxa exhibited some form of fluorescence, with variation observed between life stages and body parts. Fluorescence was documented in 88% of hydromedusae (Leptothecata, Anthoathecata, Limnomedusae and Narcomedusae), 50% of hydroid, and 75% of siphonophore taxa that were observed in this study. Our results illustrate how fluorescence patterns may serve as a useful diagnostic tool to explore marine biodiversity, highlighting the need for further documentation of fluorescence patterns across marine diversity and research into the molecules that underlie this phenomenon.
... Invasive or not, its known distribution has expanded considerably since the mid-20 th century. From the original description of the species in the Caribbean Sea (Leloup 1935), its reported range now extends to the Florida Keys, USA (Deevey 1954), Ghana, west Africa (Buchanan 1957, as Laomedea hummelincki), Agulhas Bank, South Africa (Millard 1966a(Millard , 1975, Bermuda and adjacent banks (Calder 1991a(Calder , 2000, Brazil (Migotto 1996;Oliveira et al. 2016), the Mediterranean Sea Gravili et al. 2008Gravili et al. , 2015, the Galapagos Islands , Papua New Guinea (Boero & Bouillon, unpublished, cited in Gravili et al. 2008), Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Panama, in the Caribbean Sea (Galea 2008(Galea , 2013Miglietta et al. 2018), Indonesia ), Cuba (Castellanos-Iglesias et al. 2009, Baa Atoll (Gravier-Bonnet & Bournaud 2012), and Belize (Cunha et al. 2017). A record from Pakistan (Moazzam & Moazzam 2006) was likely based on a misidentification of C. edentula Gibbons & Ryland, 1989. ...
... ;Faucci & Boero 2000;Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa 2002;Kirkendale & Calder 2003;Schuchert 2003;Calder & Kirkendale 2005;Bouillon et al. 2006;Vervoort 2006;Gravier-Bonnet 2007;Galea 2008Galea , 2010Cunha & Jacobucci 2010;Moura et al. 2011;Xu et al. 2014b;Galea & Ferry 2015;Gravili et al. 2015;Oliveira et al. 2016;Maronna et al. 2016;Mendoza- Becerril et al. 2018;Miglietta et al. 2018). ...
Forty-two species of hydroids, excluding stylasterids, are reported in the present collection from the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands. Of these, four are anthoathecates and 38 are leptothecates. Among the latter, Sertularella affinicostata
and Monotheca gibbosa are described as new species. The binomen Halopteris longibrachia is proposed as a new
replacement name for Plumularia polymorpha var. sibogae Billard, 1913, an invalid junior primary homonym of P.
sibogae Billard, 1911. Based largely on evidence from earlier molecular phylogenies, the genus Disertasia Neppi, 1917
is resurrected to accommodate species including Dynamena crisioides Lamouroux, 1824, Sertularia disticha Bosc, 1802,
and Sia. moluccana Pictet, 1893. Sertularella robusta Coughtrey, 1876 is an invalid junior primary homonym of Sla. gayi
var. robusta Allman, 1874a, and has been replaced here by the binomen Sla. quasiplana Trebilcock, 1928, originally
described as Sla. robusta var. quasiplana Trebilcock, 1928. Clytia hummelincki (Leloup, 1935) is referred to the synonymy
of its senior subjective synonym, C. brevithecata (Thornely, 1900). Following Reversal of Precedence provisions in
the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to preserve prevailing usage of binomena, the familiar names Sia.
disticha Bosc, 1802 (also known as Dynamena disticha) and Lytocarpia phyteuma (Stechow, 1919b) are designated
nomena protecta and assigned precedence over their virtually unknown senior synonyms Hydra quinternana Bosc, 1797
and Aglaophenia clavicula Whitelegge, 1899, respectively, names now reduced to the status of nomena oblita. Twenty
species are reported for the first time from Hawaii [Eudendrium merulum Watson, 1985, Phialellidae (undetermined),
Hebella sp., Hebellopsis scandens (Bale, 1888), H. sibogae Billard, 1942, Clytia brevithecata, C. linearis (Thornely,
1900), C. cf. noliformis (McCrady, 1859), Halecium sp., Sla. affinicostata, Sla. angulosa Bale, 1894, Pasya heterodonta
(Jarvis, 1922), Tridentata orthogonalis (Gibbons & Ryland, 1989), Pycnotheca producta (Bale, 1881), Monotheca
gibbosa, H. longibrachia, A. postdentata Billard, 1913, A. suensonii Jäderholm, 1896, A. whiteleggei Bale, 1888, and
L. flexuosa (Lamouroux, 1816)]. Sertularia orthogonalis, reported for only the third time worldwide, is assigned to
the genus Tridentata Stechow, 1920. Hydroids of the NOWRAMP 2002 collection consisted largely of presumptive
widespread species, with over 75% of them having been reported elsewhere in the tropical Indo-west Pacific region.
... Despite the difficulty in visually identifying medusozoans that lack a pelagic swimming stage, our seawater eDNA analysis proved to be effective for detecting several species of hydroids and staurozoans (stalked jellyfish) lacking a swimming medusa stage. Although no single literature source exists that comprehensively documents the jellyfish fauna of Florida and the Caribbean, the results of our comparative evaluation of jellyfish biodiversity in these coastal habitats were generally consistent with the literature on medusozoans present in the region (Conant, 1897;Bigelow, 1900Bigelow, , 1918Bigelow, , 1938Mayer, 1910;Kramp, 1961;Vervoort, 1967;Larson, 1976;Humann and Deloach, 2002;Holland et al., 2004;Calder, 2009Calder, , 2013Orellana and Collins, 2011;Lasley et al., 2016;Cunha et al., 2017;Mendoza-Becerril et al., 2017;Miglietta et al., 2018;Miranda et al., 2018;Ohdera et al., 2018;NOAA, 2020) (summarized herein in Figure 7). Due to the large amount of sequence data generated, we were able to filter reads stringently and still recover a great deal of medusozoan biodiversity as a proof-ofconcept that eDNA metabarcoding with FeDS identified higher overall biodiversity than could be detected with traditional survey methods alone, validating its utility for field applications. ...
Recent advances in molecular sequencing technology and the increased availability of fieldable laboratory equipment have provided researchers with the opportunity to conduct real-time or near real-time gene-based biodiversity assessments of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we developed a workflow and portable kit for fieldable environmental DNA sequencing (FeDS) and tested its efficacy by characterizing the breadth of jellyfish (Medusozoa) taxa in the coastal waters of the Upper and Lower Florida Keys. Environmental DNA was isolated from seawater collection events at eight sites and samples were subjected to medusozoan 16S rRNA gene and metazoan mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 gene profiling via metabarcoding onsite. In total, FeDS yielded 175,326 processed sequence reads providing evidence for 53 medusozoan taxa. Our most salient findings revealed eDNA from: (1) two venomous box jellyfish (Cubozoa) species, including taxa whose stings cause the notorious Irukandji envenomation syndrome; (2) two species of potentially introduced stalked jellyfish (Staurozoa); and (3) a likely cryptic species of upside-down jellyfish (Scyphozoa). Taken together, the results of this study highlight the merits of FeDS in conducting biodiversity surveys of endemic and introduced species, and as a potential tool for assessing envenomation and/or conservation-related threats.
... Despite the difficulty in visually identifying medusozoans that lack a pelagic swimming stage, our seawater eDNA analysis proved to be effective for detecting several species of hydroids and staurozoans (stalked jellyfish) lacking a swimming medusa stage. Although no single literature source exists that comprehensively documents the jellyfish fauna of Florida and the Caribbean, the results of our comparative evaluation of jellyfish biodiversity in these coastal habitats were generally consistent with the literature on medusozoans present in the region (Conant, 1897;Bigelow, 1900Bigelow, , 1918Bigelow, , 1938Mayer, 1910;Kramp, 1961;Vervoort, 1967;Larson, 1976;Humann and Deloach, 2002;Holland et al., 2004;Calder, 2009Calder, , 2013Orellana and Collins, 2011;Lasley et al., 2016;Cunha et al., 2017;Mendoza-Becerril et al., 2017;Miglietta et al., 2018;Miranda et al., 2018;Ohdera et al., 2018;NOAA, 2020) (summarized herein in Figure 7). Due to the large amount of sequence data generated, we were able to filter reads stringently and still recover a great deal of medusozoan biodiversity as a proof-ofconcept that eDNA metabarcoding with FeDS identified higher overall biodiversity than could be detected with traditional survey methods alone, validating its utility for field applications. ...
Recent advances in molecular sequencing technology and the increased availability of fieldable laboratory equipment have provided researchers with the opportunity to conduct real-time or near real-time gene-based biodiversity assessments of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we developed a workflow and portable kit for fieldable environmental DNA sequencing (FeDS) and tested its efficacy by characterizing the breadth of jellyfish (Medusozoa) taxa in the coastal waters of the Upper and Lower Florida Keys. Environmental DNA was isolated from seawater collection events at eight sites and samples were subjected to medusozoan 16S rRNA gene and metazoan mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 gene profiling via metabarcoding onsite. In total, FeDS yielded 175,326 processed sequence reads providing evidence for 53 medusozoan taxa. Our most salient findings revealed eDNA from: (1) two venomous box jellyfish (Cubozoa) species, including taxa whose stings cause the notorious Irukandji envenomation syndrome; (2) two species of potentially introduced stalked jellyfish (Staurozoa); and (3) a likely cryptic species of upside-down jellyfish (Scyphozoa). Taken together, the results of this study highlight the merits of FeDS in conducting biodiversity surveys of endemic and introduced species, and as a potential tool for assessing envenomation and/or conservation-related threats.
... It is essential to conduct research on this group of organisms that allows expanding the knowledge about their biology, diversity and ecology, mainly in regions where these studies have not been carried out previously. Knowledge on the local biodiversity is an essential pre requisite for the monitoring and management of ecosystems (Miglietta et al. 2018) and this contribution to the marine hydrozoan fauna in Colombia is an important step to obtain base information for more studies in this taxa. ...
The morphological and genetic identification of hydrozoans collected in the reef patches of Santa Marta, Colombia was carried out. This study allows to present two new records of hydroids species for the Colombian Caribbean: Halopteris alternata and Dentitheca dendritica. A total of 11 species and 1 genus were found using morphological and genetic identification with partial sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene. The order Leptothecata was the most abundant represented by 9 families: Aglaopheniidae, Clytiidae, Haleciidae, Halopterididae, Kirchenpaueriidae, Plumulariidae, Sertularellidae, Sertulariidae and Thyroscyphidae, while the order Anthoathecata was represented by 2 families: Eudendriidae and Pennariidae. Despite the lack of studies on this group of organisms in the country, the use of the 16S rRNA gene proved to be very useful to provide complementary evidence in our understanding of the biological diversity of hydrozoans in Colombia.
Hydromedusae were photographed and collected during 75 night-time dives in the Gulfstream off Florida. Most of the collected material was used to obtain DNA extracts and subsequently to determine part of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene, a barcode marker preferentially used for hydrozoans. The morphological data and the 16S barcodes permitted us to identify 46 species and 6 additional species nameable only to the genus level. Photos and descriptions are provided for all of them and the taxonomy and species status discussed. Six new species are described: Pandeopsis prolifera n. spec., Zanclea mayeri n. spec., Corymorpha floridana n. spec., Staurodiscus luteus n. spec., Octophialucium irregularis n. spec., Solmaris flavofinis n. spec. The new family Wuvulidae is proposed for the genus Wuvula Bouillon, Seghers & Boero, 1988. The new name Aequorea neocyanea is introduced for Zygodactyla cyanea L. Agassiz, 1862 to avoid a secondary homonymy with Aequorea cyanea de Blainville, 1834. Zygodactyla cyanea was considered to be a synonym of Aequorea forskalea Péron & Lesueur, 1810 for most of the 20th century, but we present arguments that it should be kept distinct from the latter and it must be transferred to the genus Aequorea. The genus Otoporpa Xu & Zhang, 1978 is regarded here as congeneric with Pegantha Haeckel, 1879 and its type species Otoporpa polystriata Xu & Zhang, 1978 is therefore changed to Pegantha polystriata (Xu & Zhang, 1978) new comb. Dipleurosoma brooksii Mayer, 1910 is recognized as a new synonym of Staurodiscus kellneri (Mayer, 1910); Staurodiscus heterosceles Haeckel, 1879 as a new synonym of Staurodiscus tetrastaurus Haeckel, 1879; Orchistoma agariciforme Keller, 1884 and Tetracannota collapsum Mayer, 1900 both as new synonyms of Orchistoma pileus (Lesson, 1843). The following Indo-Pacific species are newly recorded for the Atlantic Ocean: Pandeopsis ikarii (Uchida, 1927), Aequorea taiwanensis Zheng et al., 2009; Zygocanna apapillatus Xu, Huang & Guo, 2014; Gastroblasta timida Keller, 1883; Cunina becki Bouillon, 1985; and Pegantha polystriata (Xu & Zhang, 1978). The 16S sequences also permitted us to discover several new links with polyp stages, this for Cirrhitiara superba (Mayer, 1900), Euphysilla pyramidata Kramp, 1955, Zancleopsis dichotoma, and Melicertissa mayeri Kramp, 1959.
Detailed, high resolution photos of living medusae were found to be very useful for taxonomic purposes and are mostly preferable to preserved, damaged specimens obtained with plankton nets. Photos of living animals also permit us to better document material used to determine 16S barcodes and make the latter useable for taxonomic revisions.
The hydrozoan family Cladocorynidae inhabits tropical to temperate waters and comprises the two genera Pteroclava and Cladocoryne. Pteroclava lives in association with some octocorals and hydrozoans, whereas Cladocoryne is more generalist in terms of substrate choice. This work provides a thorough morpho-molecular reassessment of the Cladocorynidae by presenting the first well-supported phylogeny of the family based on the analyses of three mitochondrial and four nuclear markers. Notably, the two nominal genera were confirmed to be monophyletic and both morphological and genetic data led to the formal description of a new genus exclusively associated with octocorals, Pseudozanclea gen. nov. Maggioni & Montano. Accordingly, the diagnosis of the family was updated. The ancestral state reconstruction of selected characters revealed that the symbiosis with octocorals likely appeared in the most recent common ancestor of Pteroclava and Pseudozanclea. Additionally, the presence of euryteles aggregation in the polyp stage and the exumbrellar nematocyst pouches with euryteles represent synapomorphies of all cladocorynid taxa and probably emerged in their most recent common ancestor. The analysis of several Pteroclava krempfi colonies from Indo-Pacific and Caribbean localities associated with several host octocorals revealed a high intra-specific genetic variability. Single- and multi-locus species delimitations resulted in three to five species hypotheses, but the statistical analysis of morphometric data showed only limited distinction among the clades of P. krempfi. However, P. krempfi clades showed differences in both host specificity, mostly at the octocoral family level, and geographic distribution, with one clade found exclusively in the Caribbean Sea and the others found in the Indo-Pacific.
Interspecific associations are common in coral reefs, but those involving hydrozoans
and octocorals have not been widely investigated. The hydroid Pteroclava krempfi (Hydrozoa, Cladocorynidae) lives in association with different soft coral taxa (Alcyonacea), showing a widespread distribution. However, very little information is available on the ecology of these relationships. Here, we tested for differences in the taxon-specific prevalence and habitat preference of the symbiosis and determined ecological traits of the P. krempfi−host associations in central Red Sea reefs. P. krempfi was found associated with the alcyonacean genera Lobophytum, Rhytisma, Sarcophyton and Sinularia, updating its host range and geographic distribution. The symbiosis prevalence was high in the area and especially at inshore sites compared to midshore and offshore sites. Rhytisma was the most common host, while the association with Lobophytum showed the lowest taxon-specific prevalence. P. krempfi did not show a clear preference for a specific alcyonacean size, and an increase in host size automatically led to an increase in the surface occupied by hydrozoans, although they rarely colonized more than 50% of the upper surface of the host. The spatial distribution of the hydroids on the host surface appeared related to the host genus and size as well as to the coverage of the hydroids. Despite the nature of this symbiosis requiring further investigation, P. krempfi did not seem to play a role in affecting the bleaching susceptibilities of the host colonies. The study shows that the Red Sea coral reef symbioses are more widespread than previously known and therefore deserve more attention.
The diversity of tropical marine invertebrates is poorly documented, especially those groups for which collecting adults is difficult. We collected the planktonic tornaria larvae of hemichordates (acorn worms) to assess their hidden diversity in the Neotropics. Larvae were retrieved in plankton tows from waters of the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Panama, followed by DNA barcoding of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S ribosomal DNA to estimate their diversity in the region. With moderate sampling efforts, we discovered six operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the Bay of Panama on the Pacific coast, in contrast to the single species previously recorded for the entire Tropical Eastern Pacific. We found eight OTUs in Bocas del Toro province on the Caribbean coast, compared to seven species documented from adults in the entire Caribbean. All OTUs differed from each other and from named acorn worm sequences in GenBank by >10% pairwise distance in COI and >2% in 16S. Two of our OTUs matched 16S hemichordate sequences in GenBank: one was an unidentified or unnamed Balanoglossus from the Caribbean of Panama, and the other was an unidentified ptychoderid larva from the Bahamas. The species accumulation curves suggest that nearly all the species have been collected and only one more species might still remain undetected in the Pacific. In contrast, the Caribbean species accumulation curve suggests that further sampling could yield more than 10 additional OTUs. Tornaria from the 14 OTUs exhibited typical planktotrophic morphologies, and, in some cases, may be distinguished by differences in pigmentation and by the number of telotrochal ciliary bands, but in general, few diagnostic differences were detected.
