Physalia megalista

Physalia megalista
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hydrozoa
Order: Siphonophorae
Suborder: Cystonectae
Family: Physaliidae
Genus: Physalia
Species:
P. megalista
Binomial name
Physalia megalista
Lesueur and Petit, 1807

Physalia megalista is a marine hydrozoan found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans.

Taxonomy

In the 20th century, P. megalista was considered a synonym of P. physalis. However, Gershwin et al. (2010) synonymized megalista with P. utriculus.[1] A 2024 study using specimens from around the world identified P. megalista (with a long and slender pneumatophore as a distinct species, further noting that the neotype designation for P. megalista was invalid.[2]

References

  1. ^ Gershwin, L., Zeidler, W., and Davie, P.J. (2010). Medusae (Cnidaria) of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Mem. Qld. Museum 54, 47–108.
  2. ^ Church, Samuel H.; Abedon, River B.; Ahuja, Namrata; Anthony, Colin J.; Destanović, Dalila; Ramirez, Diego A.; Rojas, Lourdes M.; Albinsson, Maria E.; Trasobares, Itziar Álvarez; Bergemann, Reza E.; Bogdanovic, Ozren; Burdick, David R.; Cunha, Tauana J.; Damian-Serrano, Alejandro; D’Elía, Guillermo (2025-06-19). "Population genomics of a sailing siphonophore reveals genetic structure in the open ocean". Current Biology. 0. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.066. ISSN 0960-9822. PMC 12224019. PMID 40541187.