Effects of temperature and salinity on four species of northeastern Atlantic scyphistomae (Cnidaria Scyphozoa)
Abstract
Laboratory incubation experiments were conducted to examine the effects of different temperatures (4, 9, 14, 19, 23°C) and salinities (21, 27, 34) on survival and asexual reproduction of scyphistomae of Cyanea capillata, C. lamarckii, Chrysaora hysoscella, and Aurelia aurita in order to better understand how climate variability may affect the timing and magnitude of jellyfish blooms. Significant mortality was observed only for C. capillata and Ch. hysoscella at the highest and lowest temperatures, respectively, but temperature and salinity significantly affected the asexual reproductive output for all species. As temperature increased, production rates of podocysts increased and, if produced, progeny scyphistomae by side budding also increased. However, strobilation rates, and therefore the mean number of ephyrae produced, decreased when scyphistomae were exposed to elevated temperatures. These results provide a mechanistic explanation for why ephyrae of these species tend to be produced during colder periods of the year whilst summer and early autumn are probably important periods for increasing the numbers of scyphistomae in natural populations.
Citation
Widmer , C L , Fox , C J & Brierley , A S 2016 , ' Effects of temperature and salinity on four species of northeastern Atlantic scyphistomae (Cnidaria Scyphozoa) ' , Marine Ecology Progress Series , vol. 559 , pp. 73-88 . https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11879
Publication
Marine Ecology Progress Series
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0171-8630Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2016, Inter-Research. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at www.int-res.com / https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11879
Description
This work was funded by the MASTS pooling initiative (Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland), and we gratefully acknowledge that support. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions. C.L.W. is also grateful to the US/UK Fulbright Commission and the University of St Andrews for their financial support.Collections
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