Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Some implications of molecular phylogenetics for understanding biodiversity in jellyfishes, with emphasis on Scyphozoa

  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Statistical phylogenetic analyses of 111 5.8S and partial-28S ribosomal DNA sequences (total aligned length=434 nucleotides) including jellyfishes representing approximately 14 of known scyphozoan morphospecies (21 genera, 62 families, and 100 orders) are presented. These analyses indicate stauromedusae constitute a fifth cnidarian class (Staurozoa) basal to a monophyletic Medusozoa (=Cubozoa, Hydrozoa, and Scyphozoa). Phylogenetic relationships among the medusozoans are generally poorly resolved, but support is found for reciprocal monophyly of the Cubozoa, Hydrozoa, Coronatae, and Discomedusae (=Semaeostomeae + Rhizostomeae). In addition, a survey of pairwise sequence differences in Internal Transcribed Spacer One within morphospecies indicates that scyphozoan species diversity may be approximately twice recent estimates based on morphological analyses. These results highlight difficulties with traditional morphological treatments including terminology that obfuscates homologies. By integrating molecular phylogenetic analyses with old and new morphological, behavioural, developmental, physiological, and other data, a much richer understanding of the biodiversity and evolution of jellyfishes is achievable.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • S. F. Altschul T. L. Madden A. A. Schäffer J. Zhang Z. Zhang W. Miller D. J. Lipman (1997) ArticleTitleGapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs Nucleic Acids Research 25 3389–3402 Occurrence Handle10.1093/nar/25.17.3389 Occurrence Handle9254694 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2sXlvFyhu7w%3D

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • M. N. Arai (1997) A Functional Biology of Scyphozoa Chapman & Hall London

    Google Scholar 

  • N. Bax J. T. Carlton A. Mathews-Amos R. L. Haedrich F. G. Howarth J. E. Purcell A. Rieser A. Gray (2001) ArticleTitleThe control of biological invasions in the world’s oceans Conservation Biology 15 1234–1246 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.99487.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H. B. Bigelow (1904) ArticleTitleMedusae from the Maldive Islands Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard 39 245–269

    Google Scholar 

  • H. B. Bigelow (1909) ArticleTitleReports on the scientific results of the expedition to the eastern tropical Pacific in charge of Alexander Agassiz by the U.S. Fish Commission Steamer ‘‘Albatross’’ from October 1904 to March 1905, Lieut. Commander L. M. Garrett, U. S. N., Commanding Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College 37 1–243

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Bouillon (1999) Hydromedusae D. Boltovskoy (Eds) South Atlantic Zooplankton Backhuys Leiden 385–465

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Bridge C. W. Cunningham B. Schierwater R. DeSalle L. W. Buss (1992) ArticleTitleClass-level relationships in the Phylum Cnidaria: evidence from mitochondrial genome structure Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA 89 8750–8753 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK38XmtlSms7o%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • D. Bridge C. W. Cunningham R. DeSalle L. W. Buss (1995) ArticleTitleClass-level relationships in the Phylum Cnidaria: molecular and morphological evidence Molecular Biology and Evolution 12 679–689 Occurrence Handle7659022 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2MXmsVOqsLw%3D

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • R. C. Brusca G. J. Brusca (2003) Invertebrates, 2nd edn Sinauer Sunderland, Massachusetts

    Google Scholar 

  • A. G. Collins (2002) ArticleTitlePhylogeny of Medusozoa and the evolution of cnidarian life cycles Journal of Evolutionary Biology 15 418–432 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1420-9101.2002.00403.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • K. A. Crandall O. R. P. Bininda-Emonds G. M. Mace R. K. Wayne (2000) ArticleTitleConsidering evolutionary processes in conservation biology Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15 290–295 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0169-5347(00)01876-0 Occurrence Handle10856956

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, M. N, 2005. Morphological variation and taxonomy in the Scyphozoa. Mastigas (Rhizostomeae, Mastigiidae) -- a golden unstandard. Hydrobiologia (in press).

  • M. N Dawson (2003) ArticleTitleMacro-morphological variation among cryptic species of the moon jellyfish, Aurelia (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) Marine Biology 143 369–379 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00227-003-1070-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. N Dawson D. K. Jacobs (2001) ArticleTitleMolecular evidence for cryptic species of Aurelia aurita (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) Biological Bulletin 200 92–96 Occurrence Handle11249217 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3Mzgt1Snsg%3D%3D

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • M. N Dawson L. E. Martin (2001) ArticleTitleGeographic variation and ecological adaptation in Aurelia (Scyphozoa: Semaeostomeae): some implications from molecular phylogenetics Hydrobiologia 451 259–273

    Google Scholar 

  • M. N Dawson W. M. Hamner (2003) ArticleTitleGeographic variation and behavioral evolution in marine plankton: the case of Mastigias (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae) Marine Biology 143 1161–1174 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00227-003-1070-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. N Dawson K. A. Raskoff D. K. Jacobs (1998) ArticleTitlePreservation of marine invertebrate tissues for DNA analyses Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology 7 145–152 Occurrence Handle11541322 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK1cXjslCrsr0%3D

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • A. Franc (1995) Classe des scyphozoaires D. Doumenc (Eds) Traité de Zoologie: Anatomie, Systématique, Biologie volume III, fascicule 2: Cnidaires Cténaires Masson Paris 597–884

    Google Scholar 

  • D. J. Futuyma (1998) Evolutionary Biology, 3rd edn Sinauer Sunderland, Massachusetts

    Google Scholar 

  • E. Haeckel (1879) Das System der Medusen: Erster Theil einer Monographie der Medusen Gustav Fischer Jena

    Google Scholar 

  • M. E. Hellberg (1996) ArticleTitleDependence of gene flow on geographic distance in two solitary corals with different larval dispersal capabilities Evolution 50 1167–1175

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland, B. S., M. N Dawson, G. L. Crow & D. K. Hofmann, in press. Global phylogeography of Cassiopea (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomae): molecular evidence for cryptic species and multiple Hawaiian invasions. Marine Biology.

  • N. Knowlton (2000) ArticleTitleMolecular genetic analyses of species boundaries in the sea Hydrobiologia 420 73–90 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1003933603879 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3cXktlSktLw%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • P. L. Kramp (1961) ArticleTitleSynopsis of the medusae of the world Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 40 337–342

    Google Scholar 

  • D.J. Lindsay Y. Furushima H. Miyake M. Kitamura J.H. Hunt (2004) ArticleTitleThe scyphomedusan fauna of the Japan Trench: Preliminary Results from a Remotely-operated vehicle Hydrobiologia 530/531 537–547 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s10750-004-2645-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O. Maas (1907) ArticleTitleDie scyphomedusen Ergebnisse und Fortschritte der Zoologie 1 189–238

    Google Scholar 

  • Marques, A. C. & A. G. Collins, in press. Cladistic analysis of Medusozoa and cnidarian evolution. Invertebrate Biology.

  • V. J. Martin (2004) ArticleTitlePhotoreceptors of cubozoan jellyfish Hydrobiologia 530/531 135–144 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s10750-004-2674-4 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2MXhsVylu7s%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • C. Massin T. Tomascik (1996) ArticleTitleTwo new holothurians (Echinodermata, Holothurioidae) from an anchialine lagoon of an uplifted atoll, Kakaban Island, East Kalimantan, Indonesia Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 44 157–172

    Google Scholar 

  • A. G. Mayer (1910) Medusae of the World, III: the Scyphomedusae Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • L. R. McCloskey L. Muscatine F. P. Wilkerson (1994) ArticleTitleDaily photosynthesis, respiration, and carbon budgets in a tropical marine jellyfish (Mastigias sp.) Marine Biology 119 13–22 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00350101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. Medina A. G. Collins J. D. Silberman M. L. Sogin (2001) ArticleTitleEvaluating hypotheses of basal animal phylogeny using complete sequences of large and small subunit rRNA Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 98 9707–9712 Occurrence Handle10.1073/pnas.171316998 Occurrence Handle11504944 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3MXmtlCmsrw%3D

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • H. W. Mianzan P. F. S. Cornelius (1999) Cubomedusae and scyphomedusae D. Boltovskoy (Eds) South Atlantic Zooplankton I. Backhuys Leiden 513–559

    Google Scholar 

  • C. E. Mills (2001) ArticleTitleJellyfish blooms: are populations increasing globally in response to changing ocean conditions Hydrobiologia 451 55–68 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1011888006302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C. Moritz (1994) ArticleTitleDefining ‘evolutionary significant units’ for conservation Trends in Ecology and Evolution 9 373–375

    Google Scholar 

  • S. E. Murray-Jones D. J. Ayre (1997) ArticleTitleHigh levels of gene flow in the surf bivalve Donax deltoides (Bivalvia: Donacidae) on the east coast of Australia Marine Biology 128 83–89 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s002270050071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D. V. Naumov (1961) ArticleTitleStsifoidnye meduzy morei SSSR (Scyphomedusae of the seas of the USSR) Opredelitel: po Faune SSSR 75 1–98

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Omori E. Nakano (2001) ArticleTitleJellyfish fisheries in southeast Asia Hydrobiologia 451 19–26 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1011879821323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • K. W. Petersen (1979) Development of coloniality in Hydrozoa C. Larwood B. R. Rosen (Eds) Biology and Systematics of Colonial Organisms Academic Press New York 105–139

    Google Scholar 

  • K. A. Pitt M. J. Kingsford (2000) ArticleTitleGeographic separation of stocks of the edible jellyfish, Catostylus mosaicus (Rhizostomeae) in New South Wales, Australia Marine Ecology Progress Series 196 143–155

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Posada K. A. Crandall (1998) ArticleTitleModeltest: testing the model of DNA substitution Bioinformatics 14 817–818 Occurrence Handle10.1093/bioinformatics/14.9.817 Occurrence Handle9918953 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK1MXktlCltw%3D%3D

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • P. R. Pugh (1999) Siphonophorae D. Boltovskoy (Eds) South Atlantic Zooplankton Backhuys Leiden 467–511

    Google Scholar 

  • Rambaut, A., 1996. Se-Al: Sequence Alignment Editor, Version 1.0 Alpha 1. http://evolve.zoo.ox.ac.uk/Se-Al/Se-Al.html.

  • F. S. Russell (1970) The Medusae of the British Isles. II. Pelagic Scyphozoa with a Supplement to the First Volume on Hydromedusae Cambridge University Press Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • L.v. Salvini-Plawen (1978) ArticleTitleOn the origin and evolution of the lower Metazoa Zeitschrift für Zoologische Systematik und Evolution Forschung 16 40–48

    Google Scholar 

  • L.v. Salvini-Plawen (1987) ArticleTitleMesopsammic Cnidaria from Plymouth (with systematic notes) Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 67 623–637 Occurrence Handle10.1017/S0025315400027338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Schuchert (1998) ArticleTitleHow many hydrozoan species are there? Zoologische Verhandelingen Leiden 323 209–219

    Google Scholar 

  • I. Stewart (2003) ArticleTitleHow the species became New Scientist 180 32–35

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Stiasny (1921) Studien über rhizostomeen E. D. van Oort (Eds) Capita Zoologica Martinus Nijhoff Gravenhage, The Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • K. Strimmer A. von Haeseler (1996) ArticleTitleQuartet puzzling: a quartet maximum likelihood method for reconstructing tree topologies Molecular Biology and Evolution 13 964–969 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK28XltlSmsLk%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • D. L. Swofford (2002) PAUP*: Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (*and Other Methods), v.4.0b10 Sinauer Sunderland, Massachusetts

    Google Scholar 

  • A. R. Templeton (1989) The meaning of species and speciation: a genetic perspective D. Otte J. A. Endler (Eds) Speciation and its Consequences Sinauer Sunderland, Massachusetts 3–27

    Google Scholar 

  • T. Uchida (1926) ArticleTitleThe anatomy and development of a rhizostome medusa, Mastigias papua L. Agassiz, with observations on the phylogeny of Rhizostomae . Journal of the Faculty of Science Tokyo University Section IV–Zoology 1 45–95

    Google Scholar 

  • T. Uchida (1947) ArticleTitleSome medusae from the central Pacific Journal of the Faculty of Science Hokkaido University series IV–Zoology 9 297–319

    Google Scholar 

  • R. S. Waples (1987) ArticleTitleA multispecies approach to the analysis of gene flow in marine shore fishes Evolution 41 385–400

    Google Scholar 

  • B. Werner (1975) ArticleTitleBau und Lebensgeschichte des Polypen von Tripedalia cystophora (Cubozoa, class. nov., Carybdeidae) und seine Bedeutung für die Evolution der Cnidaria Helgoländer Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen 27 461–504

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Wrobel C. Mills (1998) Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates–A Guide to the Common Gelatinous Animals Sea Challengers and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    M. N. Dawson

Authors
  1. M. N. Dawson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. N. Dawson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dawson, M.N. Some implications of molecular phylogenetics for understanding biodiversity in jellyfishes, with emphasis on Scyphozoa. Hydrobiologia 530, 249–260 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-004-2659-3

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-004-2659-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation