Records of ctenophores from South Africa

Mark J Gibbons; Steve H D Haddock; George I Matsumoto; Craig Foster

doi:10.7717/peerj.10697

Records of ctenophores from South Africa

PeerJ. 2021 Jan 12:9:e10697. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10697. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Mark J Gibbons¹, Steve H D Haddock², George I Matsumoto², Craig Foster³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa.
² Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, United States of America.
³ Sea Change Trust, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.

Abstract

Although ctenophores can be conspicuous components of the plankton in coastal marine ecosystems, only six species have been formally described from around South Africa. Using photographs from local community scientists, we add a further three species (Cestum veneris, Beroe forskalii?, Ocyropsis maculata?) and six morphospecies to the regional fauna. These additions suggest that South Africa has a ctenophore fauna that is amongst the most diverse, globally; an observation in agreement with information from other taxa. Tips on how community scientists can improve their photographic contributions to understanding ctenophore diversity are provided.

Keywords: Agulhas Current; Benguela Current; Coelenterata; Community science; Ctenophora; Diversity; Southern Africa.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation and the University of the Western Cape. Additional support was provided by the ACEP Surrogacy project, the ACEP Canyon Connections project, the ACEP Spatial Solutions project and the ACEP Protea Canyon project. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.