26 
Records of the Australian Museum (2016) Vol. 68 
Figure 3. Lappets, oral view. (A) Cassiopea ndrosia, Lake Illawarra, bd 80 mm, AM G. 18075. (B) Cassiopea ndrosia , bd 100 mm, Hayman 
Island, AM G. 13568. (C) Cassiopea cf. maremetens, bd 90 mm, Wallis Lake, AM G. 18156. (D) Cassiopea maremetens, paratype, bd 
110 mm, Moreton Bay, QM G6645. Scale = 5.0 mm. 
34°3r36"S 150°5r53"E, 0-1 m, M. Cameron, 8 May 2013; 
AM G. 18075, 1 specimen (80 mm), locality data as for 
G. 18074; AM G. 13568,3 specimens (90-120 mm), Hayman 
Island, Whitsunday Passage, Queensland, 20°03'S 148°53'E, 
tidal flat, coll. F. A. McNeill, January 1933. 
Remarks. The Lake Illawarra specimens, collected in 2013, 
conform well to C. ndrosia according to diagnostic characters 
indicated by Mayer (1910), Southcott (1982), Gershwin 
et al. (2010: tab. 9) and comparative specimens from 
Queensland (AM P.13568; originally reported by Stiasny, 
1934). The “pinnate” branching of the oral arms (i.e., with 
lateral arms opposing each other on the primary arm) is the 
most significant distinction from C. maremetens in which 
the lateral arms “alternate” in position along the primary 
arm (see Fig. 2C for C. ndrosia from Lake Illawarra versus 
Fig. 2K for C. maremetens). Additionally, the oral arms are 
subequally branched just distal of the midpoint of the total 
arm length in the material from Lake Illawarra, a condition 
found in C. maremetens only on the distal extremity of the 
oral arms due to the arrangement of alternate branching of 
the proximal lateral arms. The vesicles are elongate and leaf¬ 
shaped, of varying size, and numerous, especially toward 
the centre. Numbers of these vesicles are relatively small 
and no longer than the width of the oral arms, however, 
initially giving the impression that relatively fewer vesicles 
are present until examined under magnification. The Lake 
Illawarra and Queensland (Hayman Island) specimens 
agree closely and correspond to the current concept of C. 
ndrosia (see Mayer, 1910; Gershwin etal., 2010). Cassiopea 
ndrosia, first described from Fiji, is currently attributed a 
wide distribution in the central and western Pacific, from 
French Polynesia to Australia and Japan (Kramp, 1965); 
records, however, require confirmation (Holland et al., 2004; 
Gershwin et al., 2010). In Australia, C. ndrosia has been 
reported from Queensland (Torres Strait, the Gold Coast, 
Hayman Island; Stiasny, 1934; Kramp, 1965) and South 
Australia (Angas Inlet; Southcott, 1982). 
Gershwin et al. (2010) noted the very close similarity 
between C. ndrosia and C. maremetens, with the chief 
differences recognized in the branching of the oral arms 
(pinnate versus alternate), and shape and number of lappets 
per paramere (1-2 indistinctly lobed versus 4 square, deeply 
incised); we question the latter distinction below under the 
account of C. cf. maremetens. 
The collector of the Lake Illawarra specimens noted this 
jellyfish started appearing and multiplying two weeks prior 
to the samples being obtained. Over 100 individuals were 
observed at this time at the same location—a small, shallow, 
artificial canal (8-10 m wide, approximately 100 m long, 
less than 1 m deep) within a residential village on the Lake 
Illawarra foreshore (Fig. 4A). Water temperatures measured 
daily within the canal for over a week while the jellyfish 
were present ranged from 17 to 22°C but within two months 
of collection, and the onset of cooler winter weather (water 
temperature not measured), the population disappeared (M. 
Cameron, pers. comm.). A check of the area in May 2014 
and discussion with local residents living next to the canal 
indicates the jellyfish have not reappeared at this location. 
Other sites along the shoreline within Lake Illawarra were 
also inspected in May 2014 without encountering any 
Cassiopea. 
Cassiopea cf. maremetens 
Gershwin, Zeidler & Davie, 2010 
Figs 2E-H, 3C, 4E,F 
Material examined. AM G. 18137, 1 specimen, in channel 
splitting Godwin Island approximately one third distance 
from southern shore, Breckenridge Channel, Wallis Lake, 
New South Wales, Australia, 32°11'45"S 152°29 , 56 M E, 
R. Pearce, 15 August 2014. AM G.18138, 1 specimen, 
collection data as for G. 18137. AM G. 18139,11 specimens, 
collection data as for G. 18137. AM G. 18143-18155, single 
specimens; AM G. 18156, 13 specimens, Pipers Creek, 
behind Smugglers Cove Caravan Park, Wallis Lake, New 
South Wales, Australia, 32°12'00 M S 152 o 30’39"E, R. Pearce, 
18 September 2014. AM G. 18181-18183,4 specimens, inlet 
on south east side of Mather Island, Wallis Lake, New South 
Wales, Australia, 32 0 11’26"S 152°29'36"E, S. J. Keable & 
A. D. Hegedus, 28 April 2015. AM G. 18184, 1 specimen, 
