Beroe gracilis

Erling Svensen Can anyone tell me how to see if it is Beroe gracilis or B. cucumis?

David Kipling Hayward and Ryland list just B. cucumis but yeah, there is another N Atlantic one (B gracilis). Descriptions of both are here: http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=zmns&id=243&menuentry=soorten http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=zmns&id=244&menuentry=soorten How big was it Erling? Looks as if B gracilis doesn't get much bigger than 3cm, whereas cucumis grows as big as 15cm.

Erling Svensen I know, David. But I do not have any simple way to see if it is gracilis or cucumis. Both of them can be seen in many different shapes, so....?

David Kipling From my reading they look the same except for one feature: "From the meridional canals branched anastomoses protrude into the ecto-mesoderm." whereas for gracilis "The meridional canals have no side branches". In other words, one has no side branches to the canal and the other does (and they join up to each other). I wonder if there is a picture somewhere showing this?

David Kipling OK here is one of B cucumis showing the same branching side-arms that are in the drawings above: http://www.wrobelphoto.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1805

David Kipling There are other pics in that gallery that show the branching side-arms for cucumis.

David Kipling Here is one of what is supposed to be B gracilis,and you can't see the same branched side-arms: http://www.wrobelphoto.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1802

David Kipling Looking at this picture - especially the right hand side near the mouth - there are four horizontal 'canals'. The seem to have smaller branches coming off them, which branch further. If I understand the species description that would make it cucumis.

Erling Svensen Do you have a feeling that we can "trust" these pictures and identifications?

David Kipling Not necessarily, no. But the one of cucumis does look very similar to the drawing on the Marine Species portal. That shows us what we should be looking for with these "branched side arms".

David Kipling So for this photo you can see side-arms, but they look branched so I guess the ID is wrong (it has a '?' by it so the author is asking for help). http://www.diverkevin.com/North-America-Diving/Invertebrates-Eastern-Pacific/Invertebrates-Ctenophora/10288495_sMw2RF/892586116_duVqn#!i=892586116&k=duVqn

Cynthia D. Trowbridge Hi...rather basic question but are the yellow dots eggs? I have not seen too many ctenophores before except Pleurobranchia.

Darryl Mayer Another "jelly" from Meanish Pier to ID, if you chaps would oblige... ;-)

João Pedro Silva Beroe? A ctenophore.

David Kipling So is this a cnidarian or one of those "looks like a jelly fish but doesn't sting" things? I love these, with the rainbow colours of the cilia catching the light as they swim.

João Pedro Silva Not a cnidarian, one of the "others". Only seen Beroe once in the Azores and they are quite consistent. Some of the other pelagic ctenophores I've seen simply break up when you try to get them closer.

David Kipling We get quite a few of these, especially further north, always a good reason to hang on the shot for a slightly longer safety stop. Quite mesmerising.

David Kipling http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2753

David Kipling Apparently this one is carnivorous and eats other comb jellies, whole!

Marco Faasse Beroe gracilis has no ramifications inside, stays small (4 cm long?) and is slender. B. cucumis can show ramifications inside (vsisble in detail Darryl Mayer ?), grows larger and is less slender. B. gracilis may be a North Sea species. Should look it up.

Darryl Mayer What are "ramifications"? These were fairly large at around 150-200mm long. I hadn't seen them with the "fluting" before.

Darryl Mayer Aha, some of this info explains the half eaten other comb jellies we saw. Some of the Bolinopsis infundibulum comb jellies looked inside out and rather ragged. Many thanks. (think I'm just being lazy asking on here instead of searching myself, but always nice to share).

Marco Faasse Ramifications are like this (click on 'view large'): http://www.accessscience.com/search.aspx?rootID=790845

Marco Faasse According to Greve (1975) B. gracilis grows 30 mm long and B. cucumis 150 mm, so B. gracilis is very unlikely :-)