Fábio Lang da Silveira

A report of 49 cases of cnidarian envenoming from southeastern Brazilian coastal waters

Forty-nine accidents caused by jellyfish (Cnidaria) were observed during a period of 5 years on the southeastern coast of Brazil. Most of them involved male patients (65.3%), the injured areas being mainly the legs (71.3%) and the trunk (65.3%). Twenty accidents with Chiropsalmus quadrumanus, four with Physalia physalis and 20 with unidentified jellyfish presented intense pain, linear plaques and systemic symptoms. The five cases with Olindias sambaquiensis caused mild pain, round plaques and no systemic symptoms. There are a few reports on accidents caused by jellyfish, in this country, and scarce clinical or epidemiological data are available up to the present moment.

Checklist of the Cnidaria Medusozoa of Brazil

Uma lista dos Cnidaria Medusozoa marinhos do Brasil foi composta a partir de registros de ocorrencia disponiveis na literatura. Ate o momento, ha um total de 373 especies registradas para o Brazil: 347 de Hydrozoa, 3 de Cubozoa e 23 de Scyphozoa.

Cultivation of polyps and medusae of Coronatae (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) with a brief review of important characters

Abstract. This work is a concise guide to the methods, techniques and equipment needed for the collection and transport of specimens, for arranging, maintaining and controlling cultures, for handling polyps, ephyrae, medusae and/or planuloids, and for standardising species description on the basis of life-cycle studies of Scyphozoa Coronatae. Objective characteristics meaningful to systematics are listed and illustrated. Suggestions for important literature sources are given, mainly on the rearing of metagenetic cnidarians in the laboratory.

Skin lesions in envenoming by cnidarians (Portuguese man-of-war and jellyfish): etiology and severity of accidents on the Brazilian coast

This work attempts to establish dermatological identification patterns for Brazilian cnidarian species and a probable correlation with envenoming severity. In an observational prospective study, one hundred and twenty-eight patients from the North Coast region of São Paulo State, Brazil were seen between 2002 and 2008. About 80% of these showed only local effects (erythema, edema, and pain) with small, less than 20 cm, oval or round skin marks and impressions from small tentacles. Approximately 20% of the victims had long, more than 20 cm, linear and crossed marks with frequent systemic phenomena, such as malaise, vomiting, dyspnea, and tachycardia. The former is compatible with the common hydromedusa from Southeast and Southern Brazil (Olindias sambaquiensis). The long linear marks with intense pain and systemic phenomena are compatible with envenoming by the box jellyfish Tamoya haplonema and Chiropsalmus quadrumanus and the hydrozoan Portuguese man-of-war (Physalis physalis). There was an association between skin marks and probable accident etiology. This simple observation rule can be indicative of severity, as the Cubozoa Class (box jellyfish) and Portuguese man-of-war cause the most severe accidents. In such cases, medical attention, including intensive care, is important, as the systemic manifestations can be associated with death.

Genetic variation and population structuring in two brooding coral species (Siderastrea stellata and Siderastrea radians) from Brazil

Siderastrea stellata and S. radians are scleractinian coral species that present a remarkable overlap of diagnostic characteristics and sympatric distribution. Moreover, both are viviparous with similar reproductive strategies and with a gregarious larval behavior. Samples of both species from the Brazilian coast were analyzed using 18 isozymic loci to quantify their genetic variability and populational structure. Results confirmed species identity, high intrapopulational variability and revealed moderate genetic structuring among all samples (S. stellata: FST = 0.070; S. radians: FST = 0.092). Based on genotypic diversity analysis, there was evidence that local recruitment may have a minor role in the populations (mean, Go:Ge= 1.00 ± 0.0003 SD for S. stellata and 0.99 ± 0.0023 SD for S. radians). Deviations towards heterozygote deficiencies found in both Siderastrea species could be explained by the Wahlund effect, since there was evidence that populations might be composed of colonies of different ages. In S. radians it is also likely that there is some inbreeding occurring in the studied populations. Despite the brooding pattern and the gregarious larval behavior, our data suggest the occurrence of gene flow along the Brazilian coast. This is the first study on population genetics of Brazilian reef corals.

Seabather's eruption: report of five cases in southeast region of Brazil

The authors report five cases of seabathers eruption, a typical dermatitis associated predominantly to the jellyfish Linuche unguiculata (Cnidaria), that causes erythematous and pruriginous papules on areas of the skin of bathers covered by swimsuits. The rash is characteristic and the eruption is commom in the Caribbean, Florida, Mexico and Gulf States of USA. The cases are the first reported in Brazil and larvae of the jellyfish are present in the waters where the accidents happened.

The life cycle of Chrysaora lactea Eschscholtz, 1829 (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) with notes on the scyphistoma stage of three other species

The life cycle of Chrysaora lactea Eschscholtz, 1829, a common species on the Brazilian coast, is described. Mature medusae were collected and isolated in a planktonkreisel, whereupon planulae appeared after 1–2 days. These planulae settled and metamorphosed into polyps. Fully developed scyphistomae typically possessed 16 tentacles, and on strobilation produced from 2 to 10 ephyrae. The ephyrae were transparent and had characteristic nematocyst warts on the exumbrella. Tentacles first appeared near the margin on the subumbrella. Ephyrae and young medusae were maintained in laboratory conditions up to 7 months.

Release of planula larvae, settlement and development of Siderastrea stellata Verrill, 1868 (Anthozoa, Scleractinia)

We herein provide the first observations on planulation, larval development, and metamorphosis of Siderastrea stellata, an endemic reef-building species that occurs along the northeastern and southeastern coasts of Brazil. The release and settlement of larvae were observed in two distinct periods. The first started 3 days after collection on January 28 during the last quarter, whereas the second started 2 months later, on April 10 during the change from new moon to the first quarter. Planulation continued throughout approximately 48 h. Brooded larvae released from the mouth contained zooxanthellae, and underwent settlement after 48 h. Newly extruded larvae stayed in close contact with parental polyps. Fusion was observed among larvae from the same colony. The first septal cycle was formed by day 2–3, while the third cycle of exosepta became evident 15 days after protosepta development. The development of the corallite of primary polyp was slow, and after 9 months of analyses no evidence of budding was obtained, this indicating that colonial development is likely to be a late event in the S. stellata life history.

Evolutionary diversification of banded tube-dwelling anemones (Cnidaria; Ceriantharia; Isarachnanthus) in the Atlantic Ocean.

The use of molecular data for species delimitation in Anthozoa is still a very delicate issue. This is probably due to the low genetic variation found among the molecular markers (primarily mitochondrial) commonly used for Anthozoa. Ceriantharia is an anthozoan group that has not been tested for genetic divergence at the species level. Recently, all three Atlantic species described for the genus Isarachnanthus of Atlantic Ocean, were deemed synonyms based on morphological simmilarities of only one species: Isarachnanthus maderensis. Here, we aimed to verify whether genetic relationships (using COI, 16S, ITS1 and ITS2 molecular markers) confirmed morphological affinities among members of Isarachnanthus from different regions across the Atlantic Ocean. Results from four DNA markers were completely congruent and revealed that two different species exist in the Atlantic Ocean. The low identification success and substantial overlap between intra and interspecific COI distances render the Anthozoa unsuitable for DNA barcoding, which is not true for Ceriantharia. In addition, genetic divergence within and between Ceriantharia species is more similar to that found in Medusozoa (Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa) than Anthozoa and Porifera that have divergence rates similar to typical metazoans. The two genetic species could also be separated based on micromorphological characteristics of their cnidomes. Using a specimen of Isarachnanthus bandanensis from Pacific Ocean as an outgroup, it was possible to estimate the minimum date of divergence between the clades. The cladogenesis event that formed the species of the Atlantic Ocean is estimated to have occured around 8.5 million years ago (Miocene) and several possible speciation scenarios are discussed.

Marine biodiversity in Brazil: Estado actual del conocimiento

Brasil se encuentra entre los 10 paises con mayor biodiversidad en el mundo, tanto en el ambiente terrestre como en el marino. Dada su larga linea costera, la flora y fauna marina brasilena esta compuesta por especies de biorregiones muy distintas. En la costa sudeste y sur, los ecosistemas han recibido una atencion considerable, sin embargo, debido al tremendo impacto de actividades humanas tales como el turismo, sobreexplotacion de recursos marinos, alteracion fisica, la industria petrolera y contaminacion, entre otras, este ambiente se encuentra bajo un gran riesgo y su biodiversidad esta altamente amenazada. Los ecosistemas mas representativos de esta region incluyen las playas arenosas, litorales rocosos, praderas de fanerogamas marinas, comunidades de fondos blandos y bosques de manglar. En la costa norte el aporte Amazonico esta constituido por un grupo muy complejo de ecosistemas marinos, estuarinos y dulceacuicolas, los habitats son muy diversos pero hay muy poca informacion disponible acerca de este sistema. En este trabajo resumimos lo conocido, lo cual es toda la informacion disponible en Brasil acerca de la investigacion cientifica en biodiversidad, los diferentes ecosistemas y el grado de conocimiento que ha sido generado a traves de diversos tipos de publicaciones. Igualmente, como lo desconocido, proponemos como prioridad de investigacion la estimacion de area, el listado completo de las especies y el estado de salud de los principales ecosistemas a una escala a nivel nacional. Esta nueva informacion debe ser integrada y resumida en bases de datos de Sistemas de Informacion Geografica, accesible a la comunidad cientifica asi como a las agencias encargadas de los planes de manejo. A largo plazo deberia incluirse un inventario genetico como una necesidad para establecer un mejor conocimiento de los recursos biologicos. Proponemos posibles proyectos a futuro en una escala local (Brasil), regional (America del Sur Atlantica) y global (America del Sur).