Browsing by Author "Bonnet, Delphine"
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- Jellyfish as an alternative source of food for opportunistic fishesPublication . Marques, Raquel; Bouvier, Corinne; Darnaude, Audrey M.; Molinero, Juan-Carlos; Przybyla, Cyrille; Soriano, Solenn; Tomasini, Jean-Antoine; Bonnet, DelphineAlthough scientific interest on jellyfish ecology has substantially increased in the last decades, little is known on the role of potential predators shaping their population dynamics. Jellyfish were long considered as 'dead ends' within food webs, and therefore overlooked as potential food source for higher trophic levels, e.g. fishes. Here this question is tackled by using comprehensive laboratory experiments assessing fish predation on jellyfish. The approach included all the life stages (polyps, ephyrae and medusa) of Aurelia sp. versus more traditional aquaculture feeds in an easily farmed opportunistic fish, the gilthead seabream Sparus aurata (L.). Results revealed that all life stages of Aurelia sp. were accepted as a source of food by S. aurata, whose grazing pressure varies depending on the jellyfish life stage. Higher ingestion rates were observed on young stages (i.e. small medusa) indicating their higher vulnerability to fish predation and the potential negative impact this may have on Aurelia sp. population dynamics. These results provide new insights on the so far underestimated role fish predation can have on jellyfish population dynamics. In particular, opportunistic fish species, such as S. aurata may contribute to control jellyfish blooms, through top-down regulations of jellyfish biomass. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- Jellyfish degradation in a shallow coastal Mediterranean lagoonPublication . Marques, Raquel; Rufino, Marta; Darnaude, A.M.; Carcaillet, Frédérique; Meffre, Marie; Bonnet, DelphineRecurrent jellyfish blooms in the coastal zone call for understanding the impacts of jelly-falls on the functioning of benthic communities, especially in shallow enclosed ecosystems where their biomass can affect local carbon cycling and productivity. Each year, blooms of the jellyfish Aurelia coerulea appear and collapse in a semienclosed coastal Mediterranean lagoon (the Thau lagoon, south of France). Although the lagoon is shallow, large accumulations of dead jellyfish are never observed on its bottom, so it was hypothesized that decaying jellyfish were rapidly consumed by local macrobenthic organisms. The current work aimed to test this hypothesis, by estimating the impact of the presence of dead A. aurelia medusae on local macrobenthic community composition and assessing their biomass loss rates under different scenarios of accessibility by the macrobenthos. Unexpectedly, our results revealed a limited role of macrobenthic scavengers in the disappearance of dead medusae, although this later was particularly fast (19-78h). Only one taxon (Tritia sp., Nassariidae family) showed a significant response to the presence of dead A. coerulea medusae on the seabed. Thus, our results suggest that the fast disappearance of dead jellyfish biomass in Thau results from its rapid degradation and consumption by local microorganisms, likely due to the combined effects of high local temperatures and the small size of A. coerulea medusae. Thus, the important biomass produced during A. aurelia blooms in Thau might essentially boost its microbial food web. The potential role of jellyfish blooms in controlling biogeochemical cycles and food web functioning in shallow lagoons is discussed, underlying the need to include this process in ecosystem-based models.
- Pelagic population dynamics of Aurelia sp in French Mediterranean lagoonsPublication . Marques, Raquel; Albouy-Boyer, Severine; Delpy, Floriane; Carre, Claire; Le Floc'h, Emilie; Roques, Cecile; Molinero, Juan-Carlos; Bonnet, DelphineThe pelagic dynamics of the cosmopolitan scyphozoan Aurelia sp. was investigated in three French Mediterranean lagoons, Thau, Berre and Bages-Sigean, which harbour resident populations. The annual cycles showed a common univoltine pattern in all lagoons where the presence of pelagic stages in the water column lasted similar to 8 months. Field observations showed a release of ephyrae in winter time followed by pronounced growth between April and July, when individuals reached the largest sizes, before disappearing from the water column. Maximum abundance of ephyrae and medusae were registered in Thau. Medusae abundance attained a maximum of 331 ind 100 m(-3) in Thau, 18 ind 100 m(-3) in Berre and 7 ind 100 m(-3) in Bages-Sigean lagoons. Temperature and zooplankton abundance appeared as leading factors of growth, where Bages-Sigean showed the population with higher growth rates (2.66 mm day(-1)) and maximum size (32 cm), followed by Thau (0.57-2.56 mm day(-1); 22.4 cm) and Berre (1.57-2.22 mm day(-1); 17 cm). The quantification of environmental windows used by the species showed wider ranges than previously reported in the Mediterranean Sea, which suggests a wide ecological plasticity of Aurelia spp. populations in north-western Mediterranean lagoons.