There are numerous
ways to contribute to The Scyphozoan. You might wish to send a
picture, provide samples, correct an error, describe how to identify a
jellyfish, summarize geographic distributions, or many things more. Sometimes,
a short e-mail including the relevant information sent to mndawson@ucdavis.edu
will suffice. However, contributions may be more substantial. For these
cases, some instructions are provided below to simplify the procedure
for you and for the webmaster. If you are able to send web-pages ready
made in the correct format, they will be gratefully received.
(Biogeography Taxonomy
Phylogeny Behaviour
Ecology Evolution
Images Notes)
Biogeography
1. Open this world map template JPEG and save
it to your disk.
2. Use
a suitable graphics program to draw species distributions. Save the modified
figure as a JPEG.
Please try to include all valid species in a single
genus on one map. If there are many species with overlapping ranges,
additional maps may be justified in the interests of clarity. Indicate
sample locations with colour-coded dots and inferred ranges as colour-coded
polygons (empty or filled). Double-check for errors.
3. Write a concise caption explaining the figure in WORD and save as an HTML document. Include citations to the relevant literature, especially those upon which the figure is based. Check for factual, grammatical, and spelling errors.
4. Scan the files with up-to-date antivirus software, then send them as e-mail attachments to mndawson@ucdavis.edu.
5. A web-page will be created including the figure and text you sent, a personal credit, and links to relevant pages within The Scyphozoan.
See a finished example web-page
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Taxonomy
The format of taxonomic contributions will vary with taxonomic level.
At this time, we are most interested in two types of contribution.
1. Contributions that summarize the characteristics of higher taxa (Genus-Order). These should be accompanied by generalized diagrams when possible (JPEG format; 40 pixels/cm, 15 cm wide x 18 cm high) .
2. Contributions
that describe how to measure in detail, and quantitatively when possible,
variation among species within genera. Diagrams indicating features and
measurements must be included.
In time, we hope to include data from such measurements in a searchable
database allowing a wide range of comparative morphological and evolutionary
analyses.
As with other contributions, text should be written concisely in WORD and saved as an HTML document. Please include citations to the relevant literature, especially those from which the information has been abstracted. Check for factual, grammatical, and spelling errors.
4. Scan the files with up-to-date antivirus software, then send them as e-mail attachments to mndawson@ucdavis.edu.
5. A web-page will be created including the figure and text you sent, a personal credit, and links to relevant pages within The Scyphozoan.
Browse the taxonomy pages (see the links at the front page) to see some examples including this(1) and this(2).
Please note, this is not a suitable venue for describing new species.
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Phylogeny
1. Make a JPEG (40 pixels/cm; max 15 cm wide x 18 cm high) of the phylogeny,
including measures of statistical support. The phylogeny should be based
on published results.
Double-check for errors.
2. Write a concise caption explaining the phylogeny in WORD and save as an HTML document. Include citations to the relevant literature, especially those upon which the figure is based. Check for factual, grammatical, and spelling errors.
3. Scan the files with up-to-date antivirus software, then send them as e-mail attachments to mndawson@ucdavis.edu.
4. A web-page will be made including the figure and text you sent, a personal credit, and links to relevant pages within The Scyphozoan.
See an example phylogeny
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Behaviour
Scyphozoans exhibit a wide range of behaviors, although most are poorly documented. We encourage contributions to this category, and hope it will become one of the more rapidly growing sections of The Scyphozoan.
We suggest the following keywords for for classifying contributions, simply as a guide and a management tool. Other contributions are welcome. Annotate contributions with multiple keywords if appropriate.
Migration
subsection: vertical migration
subsection:
horizontal migration
Rheotaxis, Phototaxis, Thigmotaxis, Chemotaxis, and any other kind of taxis
Aggregations and swarms
Reproduction, Competition, Predation
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Ecology
Ecological contributions will be diverse. As a starting point, we suggest contributions be considered in the categories below. This is not a comprehensive list. We expect to expand the scope of this section considerably in response to your suggestions and contributions.
Coastal
management
e.g. fisheries, species introductions, blooms
Habitat
Community
structure
e.g. food webs, species diversity
Symbioses
e.g. mutualism, parasitism, commensalism
Predation, competition, etc.
Life history
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Evolutionary studies necessarily draw upon other areas of study, including molecular biology, morphology, behavior, ecology, physiology, biogeography, and much more. Evolutionary contributions should therefore discuss changes in such attributes; the current status of the attributes can be described in other sections. Ideally, evolutionary contributions will be given context by discussing transitions in terms of a molecular phylogeny (or a reliable proxy therefore).
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Images should be in JPEG format. For the time being, files should be 40 pixels/cm, maximum 15 cm wide, and maximum 18 cm high, and we will adjust the size as required. In time, we will produce a list of file sizes specific to their use on the site. Please insert the appropriate credits into the figure. Scan the files with up-to-date antivirus software, then send them as e-mail attachments to mndawson@ucdavis.edu.
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Notes
Please note that submitting a contribution does not guarantee its inclusion
in the site. The Scyphozoan is intended to be a source of reliable
information for a diverse audience. As such, each submission must be correct
and easily accessible to people from a wide range of backgrounds. It should
be consistent with similar pages already on the site. Although we hope
it will not be necessary to check every submission for accuracy and clarity
(we simply do not have time), we will reject any that obviously fail to
meet the necessary standards (resubmitting a corrected version may be
an option). Any details that appear unsubstantiated or debatable must
be validated prior to submission (or perhaps included with the appropriate
caveats). Remember, once included in the site, the information will be
accessible to a very large number of people. If there is an error, it
will be there for the world to see and somebody will find it. Worse, though,
somebody (perhaps you) will perpetuate it. Please double-check, if not
triple-check, all of the information. Thank you.
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