First Geographical Record of Corymorpha Bigelowi (cnidaria: Hydrozoa, Corymorphidae) in the Northern Red Sea Coast of Egypt, Based On Morphological Description - First Geographical Record of Corymorpha Bigelowi (cnidaria: Hydrozoa, Corymorphidae) in the Northern Red Sea Coast of Egypt, Based On Morphological Description - Open Access Pub

The Anthomedusae species, Corymorpha bigelowi Maas, 1905 (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa, Corymorphidae), was recorded in the northern Red Sea fauna, representing it "first invasion" in Egypt. A fact proven by past studies that this species is endemic in the Indo-Pacific region, which is mainly located in southern coast of Japan and Indian Ocean. The specimens were collected from an area located off Hurghada city, and between latitudes 27° 14.427ˊ and 27° 10.816ˊ N, and longitudes 33° 51.085ˊ and 33° 51.603ˊ E using plankton net (350 μm mesh). In total, six mature medausae of C. bigelowi were caught in December 2014 and February 2015 (4 and 2 medusae, respectively). Following this, the captured species medusa of C. bigelowi was photographed and morphological characteristics described in details. As well as, further discussions of biogeographical distribution and morphological speciation of the present species were provided. This work makes a noteworthy contribution to clarify the migration route of C. bigelowi from southern Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3155160/ DOI10.14302/issn.2643-0282.imsj-18-2514 A hydromedusae species, Corymorpha bigelowi Maas, 1905 was first described and identified as Euphysora bigelowi from Indonesian waters during the Siboga Expedition 1. C. bigelowi is one of the 20 medusan species of Euphysorai Maas, 1905 that belongs to family Corymorphidae (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa, Anthomedusae) 2, 3, 4. C. bigelowi is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific region and a common species in the southeastern coast of Japan and Indian Ocean 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Although studies on the gelatinous zooplankton of the Red Sea started at the beginning of 20th century 10, our information is still inadequate and scattered. All records of plankton that collected irregularly from various localities of the Red Sea; Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba earlier to 1969 were reviewed and a list included one species of chondrophores, 25 siphonophores and 15 schyphomedusans was concluded 11. The first intensive study on Hydromedusae of the Red Sea and adjacent water was conducted in 1973 by Schmidt 12. He examined about 500 plankton samples collected from the entire Red Sea and Gulf of Aden by various expeditions and his own collections near Eilat throughout a long period (1956 – 1969). Of them, only 25 samples were taken from the northern Red Sea. He recorded 72 species from the entire Red Sea and found that there is an eightfold increase in the number of species from north to south. He recorded six specimens of C. bigelowi in the southern region only of the