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On the distribution of Physalia physalis (Hydrozoa: Physaliidae) in Chile

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Abstract

New distribution records of the pleustonic siphonophore Physalia physalis Linnæus, 1758, are presented based on the record of several colonies washed ashore during January to June 2015 around the port of Caldera (27° S), Región de Atacama, northern Chile. The bright blue-purplish colonies of this species have unique morphological characteristics, which include a conspicuous sail-like, gas-filled pneumatophore, and thin, ribbon-like tentacles (cormidia). Although the colonies of this conspicuous “jellyfish” are widely known in the northern Chilean coasts associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation Events, scientific records are scarce. This is the third and northernmost record of P. physalis in Chile, extending the previously known northern distribution record of this species in the country by about 890 km.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Edison Villalobos (Caldera, Chile) for his help in the field collections, to Herman Núñez and Jorge Pérez-Schultheiss (MNHNCL) for their help with information about the MNHNCL collections and the personnel of the Museo de La Pesca Artesanal and Museo Paleontológio de Caldera for their help in depositing the specimens. Wolfgang Zeidler (South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia) helped with the English of the manuscript. We also thank the anonymous reviewers whose suggestions helped to improve this work, and in particular for citing the publication by Canepa and Palma (2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad de Atacama, Copayapu 385, Copiapó, Región de Atacama, Chile and Laboratorio de Invertebrados Acuáticos, Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Chile

    Juan Francisco Araya

  2. Laboratorio de Química Inorgánica y Electroquímica, Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, CP, 780-0024, Santiago, Chile

    Juan Francisco Araya & Juan Antonio Aliaga

  3. Los Gladiolos 520, Caldera, Región of Atacama, Chile

    Marta Esther Araya

Authors
  1. Juan Francisco Araya
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  2. Juan Antonio Aliaga
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  3. Marta Esther Araya
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juan Francisco Araya.

Additional information

Communicated by P. Martinez Arbizu

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:443B4F42-FB13-42A6-B92B-1B0F835698A9

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Araya, J.F., Aliaga, J.A. & Araya, M.E. On the distribution of Physalia physalis (Hydrozoa: Physaliidae) in Chile. Mar Biodiv 46, 731–735 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-015-0417-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-015-0417-6

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