Morphological and molecular documentation of Jellyfish Rhopilema hispidum (Vanhöffen, 1888) (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomatidae) from Mumbai coast, India

Abstract

Identification of jellyfish species is challenging, even for taxonomic experts, due to their fragile forms and complex, morphologically-distinct life-history stages. DNA barcoding along with the morphological characters would complement the species identification. In the present study, a jellyfish collected from the Juhu beach, Mumbai coast, Maharashtra, India was identified based on the morphology and molecular markers. Visual morphological characters indicate that the specimen belongs to the genus <em>Rhopilema</em>. The partial gene of nuclear Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 was amplified, sequenced and subjected to similarity analysis with the NCBI GenBank database. The analysis showed a similarity of 99 % with the reported <em>Rhopilema hispidum</em> and confirmed the species identity. In the Neighbour-joining tree, the present study specimen is clustered with <em>R. hispidum </em>reported from Malaysia.