Class CUBOZOA Werner 1975
Order CUBOMEDUSAE Haeckel 1877
The taxonomic rank and phylogenetic position of the box jellyfishes has been
much debated. They were originally considered to be an order (Cubomedusae Haeckel
1877) in the Class Scyphozoa (e.g. Mayer 1910; Kramp 1961). In the mid-1970's,
however, they were given the status of a class (Cubozoa Werner 1975; see also
Mianzan & Cornelius 1999) on the basis of morphological differences. Recent
molecular data, however, raised a paradox in that Class Cubozoa was more closely
related than Order Stauromedusae to the other scyphozoan orders Coronatae, Semaeostomeae,
and Rhizostomeae, i.e. "Scyphozoa" was paraphyletic (e.g. Collins
2002). This issue has now been resolved with elevation of stauromedusae to Class
Staurozoa (e.g. Marques & Collins 2004; Dawson in press). The list of families,
genera, and species below is based largely on Kramp (1961), Southcott (1967),
Pagès et al. (1992), Mianzan & Cornelius (1999), ZooBank,
and the various recent publications of Gershwin. The group continues to be the
subject of several morphological and molecular investigations which should help
to clarify species relationships and boundaries.
Collections: M = morphology,
D = DNA.
Type = *
| Family (5) | Genus (13) | Species (32) | Image | Collections |
| Carybdeidae Gegenbaur 1856 | Carybdea Péron & Lesueur 1809 | marsupialis (Linné 1758) * | ||
| rastoni Haacke 1886 | Sydney (D, M) | |||
| sivickisi Stiasny 1926 | image | |||
| xaymacana Conant 1897 | ||||
| Tripedalia Conant 1897 | binata Moore 1988 | |||
| cystophora Conant 1897 * | image | Kakaban (D, M), Florida (D, M) | ||
| Alatinidae Gershwin 2005 | Alatina Gershwin 2005 | alata (Reynaud 1830) * | New Guinea (D, M) | |
| grandis (Agassiz & Mayer 1902) | ||||
| madraspatana (Menon 1930) | ||||
| mordens Gershwin 2005 | ||||
| moseri (Mayer 1906) | ||||
| pyramis (Haeckel 1880) | ||||
| rainensis Gershwin 2005 | ||||
| tetraptera (Haeckel 1880) | ||||
| Manokia Southcott 1967 | stiasnyi (Bigelow 1938) * | |||
| Tamoyidae Haeckel 1880 | Carukia Southcott 1967 | barnesi Southcott 1967 * | ||
| shinju Gershwin 2005 | ||||
| Gerongia Gershwin & Alderslade 2005 | rifkinae Gershwin & Alderslade 2005 * | |||
| Malo Gershwin 2005 | maxima Gershwin 2005 | |||
| Tamoya Müller 1859 | haeckeli Southcott 1967 | |||
| haplonema Müller 1859 * | image | Japan (D, M) | ||
| Chirodropidae Haeckel 1877 | Chirodropus Haeckel 1880 | gorilla Haeckel 1880 * | ||
| palmatus Haeckel 1880 | ||||
| sp. Stiasny 1922 | ||||
| Chironex Southcott 1956 | fleckeri Southcott 1956 * | Townsville (D) | ||
| Chiropsalmidae Thiel 1936 | Chiropsalmus L. Agassiz 1862 | alipes Gershwin 2006 | ||
| maculatus Cornelius et al. 2005 | ||||
| quadrumanus (Müller 1859) * | image | |||
| zygonema Haeckel 1880 | ||||
| Chiropsoides Southott 1956 | buitendijki (Horst 1907) | Parangipettai (D) | ||
| quadrigatus (Haeckel 1880) | image | Palau (D, M) | ||
| Chiropsella Gershwin 2006 | bronzie Gershwin 2006 * |
see also http://www.zoobank.org/query.htm
Compiled by M.N Dawson, L.A. Gershwin, G. Jarms, H. Mianzan,
A.C. Morandini.
Updated by M.N Dawson (August 2007). Further update pending.