Hitchhikers and anglers: novel ectosymbioses and predatory interactions with carybdeid box jellyfishes (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Carybdeida) confirmed by citizen science and digital morphological analyses

Abstract

Inter-species interactions with carybdeid cubomedusae (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) remain poorly understood for most members of this group. Given this knowledge disparity, we examined ectosymbiotic and predatory interactions with carybdeid cubomedusae using in situ and citizen science data. Photos of carybdeids with symbionts and prey in the Philippines were obtained from local scuba diver-photographers. These photos were authenticated using digital image analyses and cubozoan literature records. Here, only 18.8% ( n = 6) of the recorded carybdeids engaged in ectosymbiosis with “hitchhikers” (i.e., symbionts exhibiting phoresy or swimming with carybdeids). The majority (81.3%) of the carybdeids were “anglers”, consuming a variety of prey such as fishes, crustaceans, bristleworms, and squids. Alatina alata had the highest prey diversity (fish, squid, shrimp, bristleworms, crab megalopa, mantis shrimp), while Carukiidae members ( Malo spp., Morbakka virulenta ) were recorded to consume fish only, suggesting predominant piscivory by these carybdeids. Ectosymbiont taxa were also identified as prey, suggesting that these interactions exist in a symbiosis-predation continuum. Our study highlights the significance of citizen science in expanding our knowledge in the diet and ecology of cryptic and sporadically distributed organisms like carybdeid cubozoans and their inter-species interactions.

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