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Incidental consumption of ephyrae of moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita s.l. by three filter-feeding sessile organisms: laboratory experiments

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Abstract

Moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita s.l. has been suggested to have high mortality during the ephyra stage, which potentially affects the population size of the later medusa stage. However, the mechanism behind the high mortality rate has still not been clarified. Ephyrae of A. aurita are liberated from the sessile strobila, which are usually surrounded by filter-feeding sessile organisms. In the present study, we carried out a series of feeding trials at 10 °C, offering A. aurita ephyrae to three potential predatory filter-feeding sessile organisms: the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, the ascidian Styela plicata, and the barnacle Amphibalanus eburneus. From the experiments, the mussel was estimated to have the highest ability to consume ephyrae among the sessile organisms. Size-selective filtration experiments showed that the mussel consumed newly liberated ephyrae [3 mm total body diameter (TBD)] at a significantly higher efficiency than larger (5 and 7 mm TBD) ephyrae. Our results demonstrate that filter-feeding sessile organisms, especially the mussel, are potential consumers of the early ephyra stage.

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Acknowledgments

We especially thank Ms. E. Yoshimura, Ms. K. Sato, Dr. T. Yoshimura and Dr. Y. Nakane for their cooperation with the laboratory experiments, Dr. M. Tomita for helpful advice on the statistical analysis, Mr. T. Yamashita, Mr. A. Yasuda, Mr. Y. Murata, and Mr. Y. Takami for helping with the sample collection and field observations, and Dr. M. L. Walsh for editing the English. We are also grateful to two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments that improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Science Research Laboratory, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Abiko, Chiba, 270-1194, Japan

    Kentaro S. Suzuki & Yasuyuki Nogata

  2. CERES Inc., Abiko, Chiba, 270-1166, Japan

    Emi Kumakura

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  1. Kentaro S. Suzuki
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Correspondence to Kentaro S. Suzuki.

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Suzuki, K.S., Kumakura, E. & Nogata, Y. Incidental consumption of ephyrae of moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita s.l. by three filter-feeding sessile organisms: laboratory experiments. Fish Sci 82, 923–930 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-016-1034-4

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