First report of cepheid scyphozoan jellyfish Marivagia stellata Galil & Gershwin, 2010 from Palk Bay, southeast coast of India

Abstract

During a regular survey along the Palk Bay on 25th July 2018, 16 specimens of Marivagia stellata were collected from shore-seine operations at Dhargavalasai in Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu, southeast coast of India. The presence of M. stellata has been reported along the west coast earlier, however, this is the first time the occurrence of this species is reported along the Palk Bay coast of India. M. stellata is relatively a smaller jellyfish species and has been described only in 2010 from the Mediterranean coast of Israel. This species’ sting is not harmful to human.