Cheryl Lewis Ames

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• PhD
• Professor at Tohoku University

Jellyfishes of the order Rhizostomeae include ecologically and economically important species predisposed to forming massive aggregations. This study reports the first complete mitochondrial genome of two rhizostomes: Cephea cephea (Forskål, 1775) and Mastigias albipunctata Stiasny, 1920. The linear mitochondrial genomes are 16,667bp and 16,707bp i...

The box jellyfish Chiropsalmus quadrumanus (Chirodropida: Cubozoa: Cnidaria) is common in warm waters. Although it is assumed that external fertilization is a characteristic of Chirodropida, the life history of C. quadrumanus is not yet known since its reproductive behavior has never been described, nor has the polyp has been found in nature. As a...

Simple Summary With human activities and climate change threatening biodiversity, marine resource managers must establish globally oriented, data-driven conservation practices. As the internet expands and the world becomes more connected, science is more accessible than ever, requiring only the internet to access powerful computing tools and expans...

In this work, staurozoans of two distinct morphotypes are reported in Kitsunezaki (Ishinomaki City, Miyagi, Japan) in the years following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Staurozoa specimens were collected from Eisenia and Gelidium macroalgal beds at the Kitsunezaki survey site (October 2019–July 2021). Morphological observations indica...

Freshwater jellyfish comprising the genus Craspedacusta are thought to have originated in the Yangtze River, China and have since spread to all continents except Antarctica. In this study, jellyfish were collected from Haruta-ike, an artificial pond in Chikuma City, Nagano (Japan). Medusae were identified as Craspedacusta sowerbii using morphologic...

Discussion around avoidance and mitigation of jellyfish stings has traditionally focused on swimmers and divers being mindful of their behavior relative to swimming medusae (pelagic jellyfish). This framework must be restructured with the inclusion of the oblique risk posed by novel autonomous stinging structures like cassiosomes from Cassiopea (a...

The performance of DNA metabarcoding approaches for characterizing biodiversity can be influenced by multiple factors. Here, we used morphological assessment of taxa in zooplankton samples to develop a large barcode database and to assess the congruence of taxonomic identification with metabarcoding under different conditions. We analysed taxonomic...

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 s...

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 s...

Snorkelers in mangrove forest waters inhabited by the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana report discomfort due to a sensation known as stinging water, the cause of which is unknown. Using a combination of histology, microscopy, microfluidics, videography, molecular biology, and mass spectrometry-based proteomics, we describe C. xamachana sti...

Cubozoa jellyfish species exhibit either internal or external fertilization, and reproductive behavior involving spermcasting or complex copulatory sexual behavior, but male gonad morphology has not been investigated broadly in cubozoans. In this study, a histological comparison was conducted of the testes of four cubozoan species in two orders: Ca...

Background Anthozoa, Endocnidozoa, and Medusozoa are the 3 major clades of Cnidaria. Medusozoa is further divided into 4 clades, Hydrozoa, Staurozoa, Cubozoa, and Scyphozoa—the latter 3 lineages make up the clade Acraspeda. Acraspeda encompasses extraordinary diversity in terms of life history, numerous nuisance species, taxa with complex eyes riva...

Medusae (aka jellyfish) have multiphasic life cycles and a propensity to adapt to, and proliferate in, a plethora of aquatic habitats, connecting them to a number of ecological and societal issues. Now, in the midst of the genomics era, affordable next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms coupled with publically available bioinformatics tools pres...

The upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae) has been predominantly studied to understand its interaction with the endosymbiotic dinoflagellate algae Symbiodinium. As an easily culturable and tractable cnidarian model, it is an attractive alternative to stony corals to understanding the mechanisms driving establishment an...

Cubozoans (box jellyfish) are gonochoristic cnidarians with distinct reproductive strategies. This comparative histological study examines the gonad organization of Alatina alata and Copula sivickisi, two box jellyfish species that exhibit different modes of internal fertilization. A. alata reproduces via spermcasting aggregations while C. sivickis...

In November 2016, juvenile box jellyfish (Phylum Cnidaria; Class Cubozoa) began appearing in an 80L reef scorpionfish exhibit at National Aquarium. As cubozoans are considered highly venomous, a modified handling protocol was immediately implemented along with relevant staff education for both safety and biosecurity. With two tentacles present in i...

Cubozoans (box jellyfish) have a reputation as the most venomous animals on the planet. Herein, we provide a review of cubozoan prey capture and digestion informed by the scientific literature. Like all cnidarians, box jellyfish envenomation originates from structures secreted within nematocyte post-Golgi vesicles called nematocysts. When tentacles...

Species of the box jellyfish (Cubozoa) genus Alatina are notorious for their sting along the beaches of several localities of the Atlantic and Pacific. These species include Alatina alata on the Caribbean Island of Bonaire (the Netherlands), A. moseri in Hawaii, and A. mordens in Australia. Most cubozoans inhabit coastal waters, but Alatina is unus...

Background Cubozoans (box jellyfish) are cnidarians that have evolved a number of distinguishing features. Many cubozoans have a particularly potent sting, effected by stinging structures called nematocysts; cubozoans have well-developed light sensation, possessing both image-forming lens eyes and light-sensitive eye spots; and some cubozoans have...

Although observations of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora have been widely documented since it was first recorded in Jamaica in 1897, to date there are no published reports of its occurrence in the Gulf of Mexico. Eighteen specimens of Tripedalia cystophora (Cubozoa: Tripedaliidae), 12 and 6, respectively, were collected from a mangrove wate...

Cnidarians are often considered simple animals, but the more than 13,000 estimated species (e.g., corals, hydroids and jellyfish) of the early diverging phylum exhibit a broad diversity of forms, functions and behaviors, some of which are demonstrably complex. In particular, cubozoans (box jellyfish) are cnidarians that have evolved a number of dis...

Cnidaria, the sister group to Bilateria, is a highly diverse group of animals in terms of morphology , lifecycles, ecology, and development. How this diversity originated and evolved is not well understood because phylogenetic relationships among major cnidarian lineages are unclear, and recent studies present contrasting phylogenetic hypotheses. H...

Cnidaria, the sister group to Bilateria, is a highly diverse group of animals in terms of morphology , lifecycles, ecology, and development. How this diversity originated and evolved is not well understood because phylogenetic relationships among major cnidarian lineages are unclear, and recent studies present contrasting phylogenetic hypotheses. H...

Orr and Brennan [1] recently presented a synthesis of the diversity of sperm storage structures used in internal fertilization in animal taxa and speculated on the selective processes shaping their evolution. Orr and Brennan restrict their discussion of animals with internal fertilization and some type of sperm storage to terrestrial and marine or...

Seven National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and United States Geological Survey expeditions employed manned submersibles or remotely operated vehicles to explore deep-sea coral and cold seep habitats in the northern central Gulf of Mexico continental slope, off Mississippi and Louisiana. Ten species of echinoids and 21 species of holothur...

Here we establish a neotype for Alatina alata (Reynaud, 1830) from the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire. The species was originally described one hundred and eighty three years ago as Carybdea alata in La Centurie Zoologique-a monograph published by René Primevère Lesson during the age of worldwide scientific exploration. While monitoring monthly...

Box jellyfishes (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) have a profound impact on human activities because of their highly potent venoms that may lead to severe envenomations in humans. Cubozoa is one of the smallest classes within Cnidaria with only some 50 described species in seven families. The literature on Cubozoa is scattered and oftentimes difficult to access....

In Japan three freshwater Limnomedusae have been reported: Craspedacusta sowerbii, C. iseana, and Astrohydra japonica. The latter two species, though known only from Japan, have not been reported in ninety and thirty years, respectively. The type material for C. iseana is lost, and the only known specimens of A. japonica have recently been deposite...

Cubozoa (Cnidaria: Medusozoa) represents a small clade of approximately 50 described species, some of which cause serious human envenomations. Our understanding of the evolutionary history of Cubozoa has been limited by the lack of a sound phylogenetic hypothesis for the group. Here, we present a comprehensive cubozoan phylogeny based on ribosomal...

Here we describe the new species Chironex yamaguchii (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) from the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. This highly venomous cubomedusa, commonly referred to as Habu-kurage in Japan, is the culprit for several fatalities in Japanese waters. The scientific name adopted for this species in the literature is Chiropsalmus quadrigatus, but our taxo...

Here we describe the new species Chironex yamaguchii (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) from the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. This highly venomous cubomedusa, commonly referred to as Habu-kurage in Japan, is the culprit for several fatalities in Japanese waters. The scientific name adopted for this species in the literature is Chiropsalmus quadrigatus, but our taxo...

FIGURE 2. Chironex yamaguchii, sp. nov. A. juvenile specimen (bell height approximately 5 cm) displayed at Enoshima Aquarium, Japan; B. preserved tentacles; C. manubrium with four lips; D. gastric cirri; E. gastric saccules; F. perradial lappet as seen from below the subumbrellar opening; G. perradial lappet and frenulum as seen from inside the sub...

FIGURE 1. Comparison between the pedalial canal bend of Chironex fleckeri (B; QM G 322755) and Chironex yamaguchii, sp. nov. (C; USNM 1121555); the location of the pedalial canal bend at the proximal end of the pedalium is indicated in A (Chironex fleckeri; QM G 322298). Note the sharp tip as well as the concave slope of the bend (“ upswept cornicu...

The small but distinctive cubomedusa Carybdea sivickisi has been reported from a range of tropical, subtropical, and mild temperate localities in the Pacific. In Japan, it has only definitively been documented in the subtropical region of Okinawa. However, in 1970 Uchida noted that three specimens from Seto, Wakayama, which he had referred to as Ta...

Courtship and fertilization events in cubozoans have received little attention from biologists, and much of what we know about these processes is based on conjecture or scant anecdotal evidence. I set out to describe these processes in the cubozoan Carybdea sivickisi by observing mature medusae in vitro. Mature adults engage in courtship during whi...