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An experimental study of Aurelia aurita feeding behaviour: inference of the potential predation impact on a temperate estuarine nursery area
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Temperate estuaries are nursery areas for economically important fisheries resources. The common
jellyfish Aurelia aurita is a resident species in many of these areas, where it can reach high abundances.
This work aimed to determine the potential for predation of A. aurita on zooplanktonic organisms and
early life stages of fishes, measuring feeding rates at concentrations that mimic those occurring for
zooplankton, fish eggs and larvae in an estuarine nursery area. A set of experiments was aimed at
determining the feeding selectivity of jellyfish when offered a mixture of fish eggs and larvae and wild
plankton. Clearance rates varied markedly with prey availability and concentrations. When given mixtures
of different prey types, jellyfish preferentially elected some taxa (copepods and fish eggs). Data
obtained in the laboratory experiments were used to infer the potential impact of jellyfish predation
upon zooplankton and ichthyoplankton in the Guadiana estuary (Southern Iberia). Repeated sampling of
zooplankton, fish eggs and medusae was undertaken during the summer season of 2011. Abundance
determinations were combined with experimentally estimated clearance rates of individual medusa to
infer the potential jellyfish-induced mortality on prey in the area. In June and early August jellyfishinduced
mortality rates were very high, and half-life times (t1/2) were consequently short for the
zooplankton and ichthyoplankton. Although the potentially overestimation of our feeding rates typical of
confined laboratory experiments, the results show high ingestion and clearance rates at high temperatures,
typical from summer condition, and results also suggest that either by predation on early life
stages of fish, or by competition for food resources, jellyfish may have a significant impact on estuarine
communities and its nursery function.
Description
Keywords
Jellyfish Zooplankton Ichthyoplankton Sardina pilchardus Feeding rates Selectivity
Citation
Pereira, Rita; Teodósio, Maria Alexandra; Garrido, Susana. An experimental study of Aurelia aurita feeding behaviour: Inference of the potential predation impact on a temperate estuarine nursery area, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 146, na, 102-110, 2014.
Publisher
Elsevier