Medit. Mar. Sci., 13/2, 2012, 259-261 259 First record of Aequorea globosa Eschscholtz, 1829 (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) in the coast of Syria S. MAMISH 1 , H. DURGHAM 2 and M. SAID AL-MASRI 1 1 Atomic Energy Commission of Syria, Department of Protection and Safety, P.O. Box 6091, Damascus, Syria 2 Tishreen University, High Institute of Marine Research, Department of Marine Biology, Lattakia, Syria Corresponding author: prscientiic@aec.org.sy Received: 21 June 2012; Accepted: 02 August 2012; Published on line: 7 September 2012 Abstract The Indo-Paciic jellyish Aequorea globosa Eschscholtz, 1829 was reported last year for the irst time in the Mediterranean Sea from Iskenderun Bay (S. Turkey). This jellyish was observed in the coast of Syria, on 8 January 2012, during a regular monthly sampling program. Keywords: Alien jellyish, Hydrozoa, Aequorea globosa, Mediterranean Sea, Levantine Basin. Short Communication Mediterranean Marine Science Indexed in WoS (Web of Science, ISI Thomson) and SCOPUS The journal is available on line at http://www.medit-mar-sc.net Introduction The lack of data about jellyish diversity along the Syrian coast has persuaded the Atomic Energy Commis- sion of Syria and Tishreen University, High Institute Of Marine Research, to initiate a jellyish monitoring pro- gram for surveying the Syrian coast (Northern Levantine Basin) at four sites (Tartous, Banias, Lattakia and Al- Basset) between February 2011 and January 2012. Last year numerous jellyish swarm were observed among which the alien species Phyllorhiza punctata von Lend- enfeld, 1884 (Durgham, 2011). Three species of hydromedusae (Cnidaria), were caught by surface vertical haul with WP3 net (diameter 113 cm, mesh size 1000 µm), at three out of four moni- toring sites (Table 1). The specimens were taken for fur- ther investigation in the laboratory, photographed, ixed in 4% formaldehyde and stored in the zooplankton labo- ratory, High Institute of Marine Research. The observed hydromedusae (Fig. 1) were two Medi- terranean native species namely Geryonia proboscidalis (Forskål, 1775), Aequorea forskalea Péron & Lesueur, 1810, and the non native species determined as Aequo- rea globosa Eschscholtz, 1829 (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Lep- tomedusae: Aequoreidae) following the description of: Maas 1905; Stiasny 1928; Uchida 1947; Kramp 1968; Navas & Vannucci 1991; Buecher et al., 2005; Turan et al., 2011. Aequorea globosa: 20-40 mm wide, umbrella almost hemispherical, mesoglea very thick. Stomach about half as wide as diameter of umbrella; velum narrow, mouth simple, circular, gastric peduncle absent. 40-48 radial ca- nals present, latter narrow, with smooth margin, gonads extending along almost entire length of the radial canals, same number of tentacles. A single adult specimen of the alien jellyish species Aequorea globosa Eschscholtz, 1829 was caught at Banias shallow water very close to the thermal power station (35° 10’26.0’’ N, 35° 55’ 13.3’’ E) on 8 January 2012, where the temperature and salinity at the sampling time were 24.3°C and 39‰ respectively. The average temperature and salinity for all sites were 18.6°C and 38.8‰ respectively. Aequorea globosa Eschscholtz, 1829 is a tropical, temperate Indo-west Paciic and west Indian Ocean species (Navas & Vannucci, 1991; Buecher et al., 2005). This alien species was irst recorded in the Mediterranean basin in Iskenderun Bay in 2011 (about 100 nautical mile to the north of Banias) where the monthly observations suggested a probable establishment of its population (Turan et al., 2011); however our monthly surveying along the Syrian coast did not reveal a settlement of this species. Hydromedusae can widely disperse in the various oceans and seas, the absence of a given species from a certain area is due to its lack of adaptation to local condi- tions, not to its ability of reaching it (Boero & Bouillon, 1993). The presence of A. globosa in the Syrian coastal water may be due to transportation via ballast water of oil tankers from its origin, taking into consideration that the ephyra or scyphistoma stages of the jellyish life cy- cle enable such migrations via ballast water to areas in