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Article 10

The ecology and phylogeny of the Mediterranean Nausithoidae (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa)

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M. C. HINGSTON1, G. JARMS1*, H. ZIBROWIUS 2
1Zoologisches Institut und Zoologisches Museum, Universität Hamburg, Martin Luther King Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Present address: University of Auckland, School of Biological Science, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
2CNRS UMR6540-DIMAR, Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille, Station Marine d'Endoume, Rue Batterie des Lions, 13007 Marseille, France
 Corresponding author: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

ABSTRACT. – Coronates occur in all oceans from coastal to abyssal waters. In the Mediterranean, three of the six local nausithoid species inhabit marine caves. They have a reduced pelagic life stage in common, which presumably offers them advantages in cave or shallow water habitats, though the mechanisms differ. Within that small number of species, apogamy, parthenogenesis, hermaphrodity and brood care are encountered. In this study, knowledge of habitat and ecology of the Mediterranean Nausithoidae is compiled and the relationships of the species are investigated through a combined approach of morphological and molecular character analysis. Three clades are evidenced. These results are corroborated by studies of the life cycles and observations on the behaviour.

You are here: Volume 57 (2007) Issue 1 / 2 Article 10
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