Jellyfish and forage fish spatial overlap on the eastern Bering Sea shelf during periods of high and low jellyfish biomass

Decker, Mary Beth; Robinson, Kelly L.; Dorji, Sangay; Cieciel, Kristin; Barceló, Caren; Ruzicka, James J.; Brodeur, Richard D.

doi:10.3354/meps12273

Cited by 16 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Outbreaks of jellyfish have caused concern about their potential harm to human welfare, tourism, and fisheries (Graham et al, 2014). Indeed, it would appear that due to their high abundance and spatial overlap, jellyfish could have a negative impact on fish of commercial interest through direct predation or through competition for plankton prey (Decker et al, 2018). Considering the extremely negative perception of jellyfish by the general public, it is not surprising that these organisms are often considered as stressors affecting the viability of ecosystem services (as in the case of competition with commercial fish stocks or reduction of the quality of bathing).…”

Section: Cnidarian Ecology: General Features and Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mucus secretions in Cnidarian, an ecological, adaptive and evolutive tool

et al. 2022

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Mucus secretion provides an interface with unique and multifunctional properties between the epithelial cells of many aquatic organisms and their surrounding environment. Indeed, mucus is involved in various essential biological processes including feeding, reproduction, osmoregulation, competition for space, defense against pathogens, xenobiotics, and a multitude of environmental stressors. The ability to produce a functional mucus layer is an important evolutionary step, arising first in Cnidaria that allowed for the development of the mucus-lined digestive cavity seen in higher metazoans. Mucus secretion by cnidarians has been moderately investigated in both corals and jellyfish, which among cnidarians are the ones that have shown the highest secretion rates to date. However, although in corals the production of mucus has received more attention, especially in view of the important ecological role played in coral reefs, in medusozoans the topic is little considered. Although the mucus secreted by corals has innumerable and important immunological, nutritional, and protective responsibilities, it should be remembered that jellyfish too represent a fundamental component of marine trophic web, playing numerous and important roles that are still unclear today. What is certain is that jellyfish are characterized (especially in the era of climate change) by large fluctuations in population density, the ecological implications of which are poorly understood. However, in both cases (Medusozoans and Anthozoans) to date some aspects relating to mucous secretions seem completely obscure, such as the microbiome and its variations as a function of environmental conditions or ontogenetic development, its implications in the field of immunological ecology, the consequent energy costs and finally the role played by the mucus in evolutionary terms. This review summarizes the properties, functions, ecological implications and evolutionary importance of mucus, in cnidarians, mainly focusing its roles in corals and jellyfish. Understanding these aspects relating to the ecological and evolutionary importance played by mucus is of fundamental importance for the ecosystems functioning.

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Section: Cnidarian Ecology: General Features and Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mucus secretions in Cnidarian, an ecological, adaptive and evolutive tool

et al. 2022

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“…Furthermore, there is evidence that the diet, recruitment, and stock dynamics of commercially important small pelagic fish can be affected by "blooms" of gelatinous plankton, which share the same food sources [66,67]. However, few studies have explored the spatial relationships between gelatinous plankton and small pelagics [68][69][70], and such data are scarce in the Black Sea [71].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Summer Biomass Variability and Spatial Interactions between European Sprat (Sprattus sprattus) and Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) in the Western Part of the Black Sea

Mihneva,

Raykov,

Dimitrov

2023

Animals

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Over the past few decades, various causal connections between commercial small pelagic fish species and gelatinous zooplankton have been reported in the Black Sea, which affect the pelagic ecosystem. Recently, moon jellyfish regained dominance among gelatinous plankton; however, biomass fluctuations and interactions with small pelagic fish remain poorly understood. During the summers of 2019–2022, scientific pelagic trawl surveys in the Western Black Sea enabled simultaneous monitoring of small pelagic fish biomass, with sprat as the key species and moon jellyfish as an incidental catch. In total, 153 trawl hauls were conducted across four depth strata from 15 to 100 m, and a “swept area” method was used for biomass estimation. The sprat stock biomass ranged from 10,698 to 29,177 t, with an average value of 19,432 ± 4834 t. The total biomass of moon jellyfish was 2002 ± 868.73 t, and dense aggregations were observed in the coastal waters during certain years. Two scenarios of spatial interactions between planktivorous species were identified and linked to the formation of A. aurita aggregations. We found that changes in jellyfish density were associated with weak-to-moderate effects on the spatial distribution of sprat assemblages in coastal areas.

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“…This suggests that while surveys in each region do differ slightly in timing, the findings can be used to infer broad spatial patterns of jellyfish in Atlantic Canada. Fisheries bycatch data in other countries/jurisdictions has provided insights into spatio-temporal distributions of jellyfish as well [80][81][82].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Jellyfish distribution in space and time predicts leatherback sea turtle hot spots in the Northwest Atlantic

2020

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Leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) migrate to temperate Canadian Atlantic waters to feed on gelatinous zooplankton ('jellyfish') every summer. However, the spatiotemporal connection between predator foraging and prey-field dynamics has not been studied at the large scales over which these migratory animals occur. We use 8903 tows of groundfish survey jellyfish bycatch data between 2006-2017 to reveal spatial jellyfish hot spots, and matched these data to satellite-telemetry leatherback data over time and space. We found highly significant overlap of jellyfish and leatherback distribution on the Scotian Shelf (r = 0.89), moderately strong correlations of jellyfish and leatherback spatial hot spots in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (r = 0.59), and strong correlations in the Bay of Fundy (r = 0.74), which supports much lower jellyfish density. Over time, jellyfish bycatch data revealed a slight northward range shift in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, consistent with gradual warming of these waters. Two-stage generalized linear modelling corroborated that sea surface temperature, year, and region were significant predictors of jellyfish biomass, suggesting a climate signal on jellyfish distribution, which may shift leatherback critical feeding habitat over time. These findings are useful in predicting dynamic habitat use for endangered leatherback turtles, and can help to anticipate large-scale changes in their distribution in response to climate-related changes in prey availability.

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Jellyfish and forage fish spatial overlap on the eastern Bering Sea shelf during periods of high and low jellyfish biomass

Cited by 16 publications

References 59 publications

Mucus secretions in Cnidarian, an ecological, adaptive and evolutive tool

Mucus secretions in Cnidarian, an ecological, adaptive and evolutive tool

Summer Biomass Variability and Spatial Interactions between European Sprat (Sprattus sprattus) and Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) in the Western Part of the Black Sea

Jellyfish distribution in space and time predicts leatherback sea turtle hot spots in the Northwest Atlantic

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