Hyperia
galba
9
September 2006
Steve
Trewhella and Julie Hatcher found about sixteen
Compass
Jellyfish, Chrysaora hysoscella,
washed up on the beach
at Sandymouth Bay, near Bude
in north Cornwall.
Amphipod
Hyperia
galba on a Compass
Jellyfish from Yerseke Marina in the Netherlands
Photographs
©
by Richard Lord (Guernsey)
A number
of these contained the symbiotic amphipod
crustacean Hyperia
galba alive inside them. These are
remarkable little creatures with large green eyes, and as adults they are
only found in jellyfish.
BMLSS
Jellyfish
-
BMLSS
Hyperia
28
August 2002
Helen
Selvey of Polzeath Voluntary Marine Wildlife Area,
has found those small 'green-eyed monsters'
for which Paul Gainey
has been seeking as he would like to photograph them. When she placed a
large freshly-dead Root-mouth Jellyfish,
Rhizostoma
octopus in a vessel of seawater, from under it swam a few dozen
specimens of a small 12 mm amphipod crustacean called Hyperia
galba. They are always associated
with one or other of the species of jellyfish,
living under the shelter of the umbrella (often within the gonad cavities)
where they are sought by some species of fish. There
are only three records on the species database for Cornwall, the latest
being 1928 with a 'Plymouth area' record for 1953. Of course not
many people would look for them, but the influx of jellyfish represents
a good opportunity - so
please 'phone me on 01209
712069 if
you find any and can keep them alive in a container in a cool place.
BMLSS
Jellyfish
BMLSS
Crustacea
I found
a hyperiid amphipod with Cyanea lamarckii,
which was captured off L'Ancresse beach on the north coast of Guernsey
on 28 July, 2002.
Through
the microscope I got a few seconds of good quality video footage of this
live animal. The whole frontal region of the animal is devoted to
the eyes. Also, I photographed this animal with 35-mm film.
This produced less good results because the animal is deep bodied.
Using a microscope with a wide aperture I couldn't achieve the necessary
depth-of-field to have the whole animal in focus.
The
animal has since died and I preserved it in ethanol and will send it to
the Natural History Museum at Oxford University.
Yours sincerely,
Richard
Richard Lord,
Guernsey GY1 1BQ
Great Britain
Tel: +44 (0)1481 700688
Fax: +44 (0)1481 700699
Email: fishinfo@guernsey.net
