Aiptasia couchii (Grajales, Alejandro & Rodríguez, Estefanía 2014)
| Notice: | This page is derived from the original publication listed below, whose author(s) should always be credited. Further contributors may edit and improve the content of this page and, consequently, need to be credited as well (see page history). Any assessment of factual correctness requires a careful review of the original article as well as of subsequent contributions.
If you are uncertain whether your planned contribution is correct or not, we suggest that you use the associated discussion page instead of editing the page directly. This page should be cited as follows (rationale):
Citation formats to copy and paste
BibTeX: @article{Grajales2014Zootaxa3826, RIS/ Endnote: TY - JOUR Wikipedia/ Citizendium: <ref name="Grajales2014Zootaxa3826">{{Citation |
Ordo: Actiniaria
Familia: Aiptasiidae
Genus: Aiptasia
Name
Aiptasia couchii Cocks, 1851 – Wikispecies link – Pensoft Profile
- Aiptasia couchii Grajales, Alejandro, 2014, Zootaxa 3826: 59-64.
Materials Examined
Material examined. (See Appendix 1).
Description
Description.External anatomy (Fig. 2): Pedal disc to 15 mm diameter, wider than column in living specimens. Column smooth, to 15 mm height and 5 mm diameter in preserved specimens. Cinclides in mid-column, relatively conspicuous, in FIGURE 4. Cnidae of Aiptasia couchii. A, C, F, I, K, L, N, O) Microbasic p -amastigophores. B, D, G, J, M, P) Basitrichs. E) Microbasic b -mastigophore. H) Spirocyst.
three rows, corresponding with endocoels of first two cycles of mesenteries (Fig. 2 C); sometimes scattered cinclides in proximal column (Figs. 2 D, E). Mesenterial insertions visible. Oral disc to 15 mm diameter. Tentacles to 96, smooth, tapering towards tips; inner tentacles longer than outer ones, to 15 mm and 5 mm length, respectively.
Internal anatomy and microanatomy (Fig. 3): Mesogleal marginal sphincter muscle diffuse, relatively strong to the size of animal, short, restricted to column margin, slightly alveolar (Fig. 3 F). Same number of mesenteries proximally and distally. Mesenteries hexamerously arranged in four cycles (Figs. 3 A, B). Only first cycle perfect; first three cycles fertile, including directives. Two pairs of directives each associated with a well-developed siphonoglyph. Gonochoric. Retractor muscles slightly restricted. Parietobasilar muscles differentiated, weak. Longitudinal muscles of tentacles ectodermal (Fig. 3 C). Strong longitudinal ectodermal muscles in distal end of column (Fig. 3 D). Basilar muscles well differentiated, relatively weak, with fibers on short mesogleal pennon (Fig. 3 E). Acontia numerous, well developed.
Color (Fig. 2): In living specimens, column translucent proximally and greyish-brownish distally; tentacles and oral disc translucent greyish, the latter often with radial whitish stripes corresponding with mesenterial insertions. Mouth and actinopharynx whitish. Preserved specimens uniform tan to yellowish in color.
Cnidom: Spirocysts, basitrichs, microbasic b -mastigophores and p- amastigophores (Fig. 4). See Table 1 for size and distribution.
TABLE1. Size ranges of the cnidae of Aiptasia couchii. x, mean; SD, standard deviation; S, ratio of number of specimens in which each cnida was found to number of specimens examined; N, Total number of capsules measured; F, frequency; +++, very common; ++, common; +, rather common; Abbreviations: M, Microbasic.
Categories PEDAL DISC M p -amastigophores Basitrichs Range of length and width of capsules (µm) (16.8–38.1) x (3.6–6.1) (11.1–24.5) x (1.6–4.9)x ± SD 22.1± 3.3 x 4.7 ±0.5 16.5±0.4 x 3.2 ±0.5S 10/10 10/10N 207 193F +++ +++COLUMN M p -amastigophores(10.6–36.2) x (2.5–8.7)23.2±5.4 x 4.6±1.2 10/10 241+++Basitrichs(11.4–21.2) x (1.9–3.4)17.1±3.9 x 2.3±0.9 10/10 157+++M b -mastigophores(18.1–30.4) x (2.2–5.8)23.9± 2.8 x 3.8±0.7 10/10 172++TENTACLES+++M p -amastigophores(15.5–41.6) x (2.7–7.8)29.5±5.6 x 4.7±0.9 10/10 194+++Basitrichs(13.4–38.2) x (1.9–6.6)24.1±4.9 x 3.6±0.9 10/10 199+++Spirocysts(11.3–31.2) x (2.7–5.8)19.9±4.3 x 3.9±0.7 10/10 229+++ACTINOPHARYNX M p -amastigophores(10.6–38.1) x (2.4–6.1)21.6±3.1 x 4.3±0.7 10/10 227+++Basitrichs(11.1–24.5) x (1.6–4.9)7.9±2.3 x 9.9±0.5 9/10 190++FILAMENTS M p -amastigophores 1(8.7–21.4) x (1.7–7.1)12.5±2.4 x 3.4±1.7 10/10 220+++M p -amastigophores 2(27.6–44.5) x (3.6–6.3)35.1±3.4 x 4.9±0.6 10/10 276+++Basitrichs(9.6–21.6) x (1.3–3.2)12.7±4.1 x 2.1±0.6 10/10 217++ACONTIA M p -amastigophores 1(14.2–33.5) x (2.5–6.3)20.1±5.8 x 3.3±1.1 8/10 215+M p -amastigophores 2(53.4–93.6) x (5.8–10.9)74.5±10.5 x 7.9±1.1 10/10 278+++Basitrichs(17.9–35.9) x (1.4–4.6)29.1±3.9 x 2.7±0.5 10/10 303+++
Geographic and bathymetric distribution.Aiptasia couchii is known from the eastern Atlantic coast of Europe, the Canary Islands and Madeira, and in the Mediterranean Sea (Schmidt 1972; Manuel 1981; Ocaña et al.1994; den Hartog & Ates 2011). Aiptasia couchii is a shallow water species present in subtidal waters and usually found in crevices, between 1– 5 m.
Taxonomic remarks.Schmidt (1972) revised the European species of Aiptasiidae, synonymizing A. couchii with A. mutabilis and stating that they were different ecotypes of the same species (A. mutabilis Form I = A. couchii and A. mutabilis Form II = A. mutabilis, see Schmidt 1972). However, A. couchii and A. mutabilis can be differentiated by size (to 15 mm vs. to 30 mm length), color pattern (particularly that of the tentacles and oral disc, see Figs. 2, 5), number of mesenteries distally and proximally (equal numbers vs. more cycles distally) and tentacles (48–96vs.96–192), cnidae, in specific, the size of the microbasic p -amastigophores 2. In the acontia, although sizes ranges overlap, these cnidae are generally shorter in A. couchii than in A. mutabilis, which has a more restricted size range; a similar situation in found in the column and the tentacles; see Tables 1, 2). Additionally, the two differ in ecology (clonal vs. solitary), geographical distribution (A. mutabilis is restricted to the Mediterranean Sea), depth (intertidal vs. up to 30 m), type of symbionts (Symbiodinium vs. Amphidinium: see Grajales 2014), and mode of asexual reproduction (transversal vs. longitudinal fission). Schmidt (1972) based the synonymy on his observation that one specimen of A. couchii kept in an aquarium could grow more than 96 tentacles, and he interpreted this to represent an intermediate form between both species. In our opinion, morphological and ecological evidence clearly distinguishes Schmidt's (1972) ecotypes as different species. Furthermore, molecular evidence supports this differentiation (Grajales 2014).
Our cnidae size range data differ from those of Schmidt (1972), particularly in the presence of microbasic b - mastigophores of the column and the shorter microbasic p -amastigophores (2) of the acontia (Tables 1, 2). Schmidt (1972) did not report these two categories in his specimens. Both categories are easily overlooked or confused with other types present in the tissue because of similarities in length and width of the capsules. The category Schmidt (1972) named as "anisorhize haplonemes" in the column probably corresponds partly with what we call basitrichs. Den Hartog and Ates (2011) identified one small specimen from the northern Atlantic coast of Spain as Aiptasia mutabilis type II sensu Schmidt (1972), stating that this corresponded with the previously known as A. couchii. However, A. couchii corresponds with A. mutabilis Form I sensu Schmidt (Schmidt 1972; Manuel 1981). Den Hartog and Ates (2011) provided only cnida data from the sole examined specimen from Spain. Similarly to those of Schmidt (1972), their cnida data differ from ours in the absence of the microbasic b -mastigophores of the column and the shorter microbasic p -amastigophores (1) of the acontia. The sizes ranges provided for cnida categories in all examined tissues overlap for their specimen and those of A. couchii in this study but are narrower than those in this study (Table 1, den Hartog & Ates 2011).
Taxon Treatment
- Grajales, Alejandro; Rodríguez, Estefanía; 2014: Morphological revision of the genus Aiptasia and the family Aiptasiidae (Cnidaria, Actiniaria, Metridioidea), Zootaxa 3826: 59-64. doi
This treatment was originally uploaded by Plazi, compare this treatment on Plazi. Unless this treatment has been substantially changed on Species-ID, Plazi requests to maintain a link back to the original repository.
