Thysanostoma loriferum
Description and Comments
Seen from the beach in Wakaya, Lomaiviti Islands, Fiji, in shallow water. We'd guess it was about a meter long from the top of the bell to the end of the tentacles. It wasn't washed up on the beach, so it appeared to be alive, and it wasn't in the same spot (or on the beach) hours later.
We based our identification on our reading of William J. Cooke, "New Scyphozoan Records for Hawaii: Anomalorhiza shawi Light, 1921, and Thysanostoma loriferum Ehrenberg, 1835; with Notes on Several Other Rhizostomes," Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 97(3), 1984, pp. p583-588, particularly the differentiation from T. flagellatum on p.585f. We did not have easy access to Stiasny (1940), which Cooke cites for further distinguishing characteristics. Plus jellies are entirely new to us.
Comments
Definitely Thysanostoma!
Definitely Thysanostoma! Thanks for the sighing and great photo.