OBSERVATIONS OF THE DEEP-SEA TRACHYMEDUSA BENTHOCODON PEDUNCULATA

摘要

Recent observations, from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) working in the Monterey Submarine Canyon in the northeast Pacific and from the Johnson Sea Link II in the northwest Atlantic, revealed the presence of the trachymedusa Benthocodon pedunculata near the bottom in both oceans. Although feeding was not observed in the field or in the lab, gut contents indicate a preponderance of benthopelagic crustaceans although a wide variety of zooplankton have been found. Two morphologically different tentacle types both possess cnidae with a 3:1 ratio of euryteles to stenoteles. Unencysted metacercariae of a trematode parasite were found in the manubrium of more than half the medusae examined. [References: 26]