Life Cycle of Chrysaora fuscescens (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) and a Key to Sympatric Ephyrae.

Abstract

The life cycle of the Northeast Pacific sea nettle, Chrysaora fuscescens Brandt, 1835, is described from gametes to the juvenile medusa stage. In vitro techniques were used to fertilize eggs from field-collected medusae. Ciliated planula larvae swam, settled, and metamorphosed into scyphistomae. Scyphistomae reproduced asexually through podocysts and produced ephyrae by undergoing strobilation. The benthic life history stages of C. fuscescens are compared with benthic life stages of two sympatric species, and a key to sympatric scyphomedusa ephyrae is included. All observations were based on specimens maintained at the Monterey Bay Aquarium jelly laboratory, Monterey, California.