Polyps of the families Atorellidae and Nausithoidae (Scyphozoa: Coronatae) new to the brazilian fauna

Resumen

Solitary scyphistomae of the scyphozoan order Coronatae were sorted from samples collected at 12 oceanographic stations of the Revizee-Score Sul/Bentos project along the Brazilian coast. The 201 specimens were found, at depths between 133-808 m, growing on stony corals. These scyphistomae were assigned to the families Nausithoidae (186) and Atorellidae (15) based on the outer morphology of the periderm tubes. The number and shape of the cusps, and the presence of second order teeth in some of them, suggests that the polyps should be split into four types, two of them assigned to Nausithoe Kölliker, 1853 and two others to Atorella Vanhöffen, 1902. Living stephanoscyphistomae should be collected and reared to further resolve the taxonomy of these scyphozoans.