''Chrysaora africana'', the purple compass jelly, is a species of

jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella- ...

from the family

Pelagiidae The Pelagiidae are a family of jellyfish. Members of the family ''Pelagiidae'' have no ring canal, and the marginal tentacles arise from umbrella margin. Genera There are four genera currently recognized: *Genus ''Chrysaora'' – (14 species) *G ...

. Found in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean from

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

to the western coast of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

(although uncommon in the far south of its range), its

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

has historically caused considerable confusion. Like other

sea nettle ''Chrysaora'' () is a genus of jellyfish, commonly called the sea nettles, in the family Pelagiidae. The origin of the genus name ''Chrysaora'' lies in Greek mythology with Chrysaor, brother of Pegasus and son of Poseidon and Medusa. Translated, ...

s, its sting is painful, but not generally dangerous unless there is an allergic reaction to the venom.

Taxonomy

''C. africana'' was first described by

Ernst Vanhöffen Ernst Vanhöffen (15 November 1858, in Wehlau – 14 June 1918) was a German zoologist. He studied geology, botany and zoology at the universities of Berlin and Königsberg, graduating in 1888 with the thesis ''Untersuchungen über semaeostome ...

in 1902. In 1939, it was suggested that it simply represented old individuals of '' C. fulgida'', a view repeated as recently as 2010. ''C. fulgida'' itself has frequently been confused with the closely related '' C. hysoscella''. Recent studies have been able to separate not only ''C. hysoscella'' (now known to be restricted to the northeast Atlantic Ocean) but also the three southeast Atlantic ''Chrysaora'' species—''C. africana'', ''C. fulgida'' and an

undescribed species In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon (for example, a species) that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and name ...

tentatively referred to as "''C. agulhensis''"—based on differences in their

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

and

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar worki ...

. The last and still-undescribed species, also known by the common name Cape compass jelly, is widespread along the southern African coast from

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

in South Africa. Although a detailed description has been published where a scientific name was proposed, it did not comply with article 8 of the

ICZN Code The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the Int ...

References

africana Animals described in 1902 Cnidarians of the Atlantic Ocean {{Scyphozoa-stub