[Cnidaria] Fwd: PNG Sea Jellies

[Claudia Mills]

Hello friends,

The photos below were sent to me for identification from Mark Baine  
of the Motupore Island Research Centre (MIRC), who is making a guide  
to underwater images of the area in Papua New Guinea. I have  
essentially no tropical experience and can't actually get anywhere on  
these nice images without some help. (Well, the cteno might, yes, be  
Bolinopsis, but that isn't sure.)

Identifications could be sent to Dr. Baine (below) as well as this  
listserver.
Thanks,
Claudia Mills


Begin forwarded message:

> From: BAINE <bainemsp at upng.ac.pg>
> Date: October 10, 2007 1:32:25 PM PDT
> To: <cemills at u.washington.edu>
> Cc: "Mark Baine" <bainemsp at upng.ac.pg>
> Subject: Re: PNG Sea Jellies
>
> Thank you Claudia.  I really appreciate your offer of assistance  
> and your
> willingness to seek the help of others as well, if needed.
> Unfortunately, at the moment, we only have 3 images in total for  
> the sea
> jelly section and 1 for the ctenophores.  I attach the 4 images for  
> your
> review.  I am fairly confident on the Papuan sea jelly (Mastigias  
> papua)
> but it would be good to have it confirmed.  It would also be good to
> confirm the Cassiopea andromeda, though I also wonder if it could be
> Cassiopea medusae.  The specimen labelled Cassiopea sp was tiny (2-3cm
> width) and I am assuming it is a Cassiopea given its behaviour at the
> time, but no real confidence there.
> The ctenophore photo is not the greatest - despite the pevalence of  
> this
> species in the local bay, I have found it difficult to photograph.  I
> think it could be a Bolinopsis sp.  I am continually trying to get a
> better photo than this one and will hopefully succeed before  
> publication.
> Once again, many thanks for the assistance.  Much appreciated.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Mark
>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Oct 9, 2007, at 7:56 PM, BAINE wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Dr Mills
>>>
>>> Over the past 12 months, the Motupore Island Research Centre (MIRC)
>>> has
>>> developed a large bank of underwater images of species found in
>>> Bootless
>>> Bay and the adjacent Papuan Barrier Reef, Central Province, Papua  
>>> New
>>> Guinea.
>>> It is MIRC’s intention to publish the majority of these  
>>> photographs
>>> in the
>>> form of a guide; the primary target audience being the local
>>> communities
>>> who use the Bay and those that visit it.  This guide is  
>>> currently   in
>>> the
>>> design stage and it is envisaged that by December 2007 it will be
>>> printed
>>> and ready for distribution.  MIRC intends distributing the guide to
>>> every
>>> household in 5 main villages and other community pockets around the
>>> Bay
>>> (at least 3000 copies).  The guide itself, as well as providing a
>>> visual
>>> testament to the biodiversity of the Bay area, will also provide
>>> general
>>> information on the biology, ecology and importance of major  
>>> taxonomic
>>> groups, concluding with some simple guidelines as to how we can
>>> maintain
>>> such a high level of biodiversity through slight modifications to  
>>> our
>>> everyday lives.
>>> It is very important to MIRC that we try and ensure that our
>>> attempts to
>>> identify each species are verified.  In some cases, we have been
>>> unable to
>>> identify organisms even to Genus level.  Recognising your  
>>> expertise, I
>>> would be grateful if you could assist us by examining 4  
>>> photographs we
>>> have (3 sea jellies and 1 ctenophore) and offering your opinion on
>>> their
>>> identification.  I appreciate it is difficult to make IDs based on
>>> photographs alone, and thus would be grateful for any advice you can
>>> provide, even if only to family level.  As you will note, we have  
>>> made
>>> some tentative identifications, but these are not at all confident
>>> ones.
>>> Please let me know if you would be willing to assist and I will    
>>> send
>>> the
>>> photographs by e-mail.  We would be delighted if you can.  Your
>>> contribution would be acknowledged within the book and we would  
>>> send a
>>> number of copies to you once published.
>>> Many thanks for taking the time to consider this request.
>>>
>>> Best wishes
>>>
>>> Dr Mark Baine
>>> Director, Motupore Island Research Centre
>>> UPNG
>>>
>>> www.upng.ac.pg
>
>

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