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Allozyme and morphological evidence for a newly introduced species of Aurelia in San Francisco Bay, California

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Abstract

The jellyfish Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1758) is usually considered to be a cosmopolitan species. Aurelia sp. medusae observed at Foster City, San Francisco Bay, California, USA, since 1988 are morphologically distinct from Aurelia sp. collected 200 km away in Monterey Bay, but are morphologically similar to aquarium-cultured Aurelia sp. from Japan. They differ consistently in radial canal morphology. In allozyme electrophoresis, significant differences at 12 of 14 polymorphic loci strongly suggest that Aurelia sp. from Foster City and Tokyo Bay belong to one species, while Aurelia sp. from Monterey Bay and Vancouver Island belong to a second species. We propose that Aurelia sp. at Foster City is a recent introduction, possibly from Japan via ships' ballast water. The identities and taxonomic affinities of the two Aurelia defined in this study, and their relationships with the Linnaen A. aurita described from the North Atlantic, will require genetic and morphological study of the currently recognized species A. aurita and A. limbata (Brandt, 1838) from several zoogeographical provinces.

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Author notes

  1. N. Greenberg

    Present address: , P.O. Box 92, 96773, Ninole, Hawaii, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, P.O. Box 450, 95039, Moss Landing, California, USA

    N. Greenberg

  2. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California at Santa Cruz, 95064, Santa Cruz, California, USA

    R. L. Garthwaite & D. C. Potts

  3. Osher Laboratory for Molecular Systematics, California Academy of Science, Golden Gate Park, 94118, San Francisco, California, USA

    R. L. Garthwaite

Authors
  1. N. Greenberg
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  2. R. L. Garthwaite
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  3. D. C. Potts
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Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick

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Greenberg, N., Garthwaite, R.L. & Potts, D.C. Allozyme and morphological evidence for a newly introduced species of Aurelia in San Francisco Bay, California. Marine Biology 125, 401–410 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346320

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346320

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