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Jellyfish as an alternative source of food for opportunistic fishes

dc.contributor.authorMarques, Raquel
dc.contributor.authorBouvier, Corinne
dc.contributor.authorDarnaude, Audrey M.
dc.contributor.authorMolinero, Juan-Carlos
dc.contributor.authorPrzybyla, Cyrille
dc.contributor.authorSoriano, Solenn
dc.contributor.authorTomasini, Jean-Antoine
dc.contributor.authorBonnet, Delphine
dc.date.accessioned2017-04-07T15:55:44Z
dc.date.available2017-04-07T15:55:44Z
dc.date.issued2016-12
dc.description.abstractAlthough 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.
dc.description.sponsorshipFunded by EC2CO through the DYNAMO program
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.jembe.2016.08.008
dc.identifier.issn0022-0981
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/9203
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relation.isbasedonWOS:000386190300001
dc.titleJellyfish as an alternative source of food for opportunistic fishes
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.endPage7
oaire.citation.startPage1
oaire.citation.titleJournal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
oaire.citation.volume485
rcaap.rightsrestrictedAccess
rcaap.typearticle

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