Carbon content of Mnemiopsis leidyi eggs and specific egg production rates in northern Europe

Abstract

The comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi is considered to be a successful invasive species, partly due to its high reproduction potential. However, due to the absence of direct carbon measurements of eggs, specific reproduction rates remain uncertain. We show that egg carbon is 0.22 + 0.02 mg C and up to 21 times higher than previously extrapolated. With maximum rates of 11 232 eggs ind 21 day 21 , largest animals in northern Europe invest 10% day 21 of their body carbon into reproduction.The comb jelly M. leidyi has received wide public and scientific attention during the last decades due to its commonly observed formation of bloom abundances in native and invaded areas (e.g. Costello et al., 2012;Riisgård et al., 2012). One of the traits suggested to be responsible for M. leidyi's invasion success is its high fecundity. At the northern end of its distribution range in native areas, M. leidyi has been shown to produce up to 9380 and 14 233 eggs ind 21 day 21 (Kremer, 1976a;Graham et al., 2009), with similar rates of 9910 eggs ind 21 day 21 for the native southern population in Biscayne Bay, FL, USA (Baker and Reeve, 1974). Within invaded European waters, rates of up to 3000 and 12 000 eggs ind 21 day 21 have been recorded for northern and southern populations, respectively (Zaika and Revkov, 1994;Javidpour et al., 2009). Since M. leidyi is a simultaneous hermaphrodite and fertilized eggs are produced on a daily basis

Selection for life‐history traits to maximize population growth in an invasive marine species

“…S1). The allometric scaling of energy acquisition rate (n) and mortality was taken from West, Brown, and Enquist (1997), weight at hatch was set to be the same as egg weight (m 0 ) and taken from Jaspers, Costello, et al (2015), while the final individual size (m ∞ ) was assumed, based on observations and literature information of M. leidyi size distribution data in native and invaded habitats. This leads to a final individual length of 10 cm (oral-aboral), equivalent to 100 mgC (Robinson & Graham, 2014).…”

“…We estimated growth rates (l, per day) from (l = ln (W t /W 0 )/t) where W 0 and W t denote body carbon on day 0 and day t, respectively. Specific egg production rates (per day) were calculated from egg counts and carbon contents of eggs (Jaspers, Costello, et al, 2015) and adults (see above). Energy allocation to reproduction was similarly assessed in a native cohort by Baker and Reeve (1974); see Table 3, study 8.…”

“…The marine holoplanktonic comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi, native to the east coast of America, is an example of a successful invasive species (Costello, Bayha, Mianzan, Shiganova, & Purcell, 2012) with large ecosystem implications in northern and southern Europe (Kideys, 2002;Riisg ard, Bøttiger, Madsen, & Purcell, 2007) and listed among the 100 worst invasive alien species worldwide (Lowe, Browne, Boudjelas, & De Poorter, 2000). It shares many characteristics of a successful invasive species due to high growth rates (Stanlaw, Reeve, & Walter, 1981) and its large reproductive potential (Jaspers, Costello, & Colin, 2015). Furthermore, M. leidyi is a simultaneous hermaphrodite and able to self-fertilize (Jaspers, Møller, & Kiørboe, 2015).…”

Ocean current connectivity propelling the secondary spread of a marine invasive comb jelly across western Eurasia

“…It is therefore of concern that M. leidyi populations have recently reached exceptionally high abundances in particular regions of Northern Europe (Riisgård, Bøttiger, Madsen, & Purcell, 2007;van Walraven, Langenberg, & van der Veer, 2013), leading to documented changes in food web structure and function (Tiselius & Møller, 2017). As a result of its high reproductive capacity, with earlier maturation in invaded compared with native habitats (Jaspers, Marty, & Kiørboe, 2018) and simultaneous self-fertilization (Jaspers, Costello, & Colin, 2015), M. leidyi is prone to rapid population increase and is therefore extremely responsive over large spatial scales within short time frames. Although salinity has been shown to restrict establishment in certain regions of northern Europe (Jaspers, Møller, & Kiørboe, 2011) and that winter temperatures < 4 8C may lead to a die-off of southern invasive subpopulations (Shiganova et al, 2001), the factors governing the range occupancy and spread dynamics of M. leidyi populations remain unresolved.…”

On the distribution and population dynamics of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Belgian part of the North Sea and Westerschelde estuary

“…Furthermore, M. leidyi is a simultaneous, self-compatible hermaphrodite, capable of rapid reproduction (Costello et al, 2012), producing more than 11,000 eggs ind À1 daily (Baker and Reeve, 1974;Jaspers et al, 2014). It also has a broad zooplanktivorous diet, including different copepod species, barnacle nauplii, bivalve veligers and cladocerans, but also fish eggs and larvae (Costello et al, 2006;Granhag et al, 2011;Javidpour et al, 2009b;Purcell and Arai, 2001; and references therein).…”