Journal ArticleDOI
Changes in biodiversity of phytoplankton, zooplankton, fishes and macrobenthos in the Southern Caspian Sea after the invasion of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis Leidyi
Aboulghasem Roohi,Ahmet E. Kideys,Ameneh Sajjadi,Abdolla Hashemian,Reza Pourgholam,Hasan Fazli,Ali Ganjian Khanari,Elif Eker-Develi +7 more
TLDR
Monitoring for 6 years showed that the population explosion of the alien ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in the southern Caspian Sea coincided with a decline in the abundance and species number of mesozooplankton, and some changes in the macrobenthic fauna were also conspicuous after the increase of this ctenophile.Abstract:
Monitoring for 6 years (2001–2006) showed that the population explosion of the alien ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in the southern Caspian Sea coincided with a decline in the abundance and species number of mesozooplankton. While this decline appeared to have reduced the nourishment of sprat (also known as kilka), it seemed to have affected phytoplankton favorably mainly due to the decrease in grazing pressure. During 2001–2002, when M. leidyi abundance and biomass were at their highest levels, abundance of dinoflagellates and cyanophytes exceeded that of diatoms. Before the invasion (1996) and in some years after the invasion (2003, 2004 and 2006) diatom abundance was higher than the abundance of other groups. In September 2005, an unprecedented bloom of the toxic cyanophyte Nodularia sp. was observed in the southern Caspian Sea. Disappearance of edible zooplankton such as Eurytemora spp. was among the first changes observed after the expansion of M. leidyi in the area. Some changes in the macrobenthic fauna were also conspicuous after the increase of this ctenophore. While the biomass of some deposit feeders, such as the polychaete Nereis diversicolor and oligochaete species increased, benthic crustaceans decreased sharply in abundance during 2001–2003 and completely disappeared during 2004–2006. Iranian catches of kilka, the most abundant and widespread zooplanktivorous fish, decreased significantly in the southern Caspian Sea after 1999. Iranian landings of kilka dropped ~70% from 69,070 ± 20,270 t during 1995–2000 to 23,430 ± 12,240 t during 2001–2006, resulting in a loss of at least 125 million US dollars to the economy. There were also changes in the total catches of large predators such as the kutum and mullet, which mainly feed on kilka, between 1991 and 2006.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Increasing jellyfish populations: trends in Large Marine Ecosystems
Lucas Brotz,William W. L. Cheung,William W. L. Cheung,Kristin M. Kleisner,E. A. Pakhomov,Daniel Pauly +5 more
TL;DR: Of the 66 LMEs defined thus far that cover the world’s coastal waters and seas, trends of jellyfish abundance after 1950 (increasing, decreasing, or stable/variable) were identified for 45, with variable degrees of confidence.
Journal ArticleDOI
Ctenophore relationships and their placement as the sister group to all other animals
Nathan V. Whelan,Nathan V. Whelan,Kevin M. Kocot,Tatiana P. Moroz,Krishanu Mukherjee,Peter Williams,Gustav Paulay,Leonid L. Moroz,Kenneth M. Halanych +8 more
TL;DR: Newly sequenced transcriptomes are combined with existing data to establish Ctenophora as the sister group to all other animals and suggest a radiation around 350 Ma as well as multiple transitions from a pelagic to benthic lifestyle within ctenophores.
Journal ArticleDOI
Transitions of Mnemiopsis leidyi (Ctenophora: Lobata) from a native to an exotic species: a review
TL;DR: The foundations of the ctenophore’s invasive success, which include the source-sink dynamics that characterize Mnemiopsis populations in temperate coastal waters, are reviewed, and the variables most likely to determine whether introduction of Mnemiops to a novel community results in an inconspicuous addition or a disruptive invasion are reviewed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stealth predation and the predatory success of the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that the predatory success of the lobate ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi lies in its use of cilia to generate a feeding current that continuously entrains large volumes of fluid, yet is virtually undetectable to its prey.
Journal ArticleDOI
Invasive copepods in the Lower Columbia River Estuary: Seasonal abundance, co-occurrence and potential competition with native copepods
Stephen M. Bollens,Joanne K. Breckenridge,Jeffery R. Cordell,Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens,Olga Kalata +4 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted a multi-year field study to investigate plankton dynamics in the Lower Columbia River Estuary (LCRE), and conducted monthly sampling of the mesozooplankton (> 73 μm) at a station near Astoria, Oregon.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Respiration and excretion by the ctenophore Mnepiopsis leidyi
Patricia Kremer,Patricia Kremer +1 more
TL;DR: Respiration and excretion rates were measured for a variety of sizes of Mnemiopsis leidyi over a temperature range of 10.3° to 24.5°C, and values are comparable to rates observed for small, active zooplankton.
Journal ArticleDOI
Seasonal refugia, shoreward thermal amplification, and metapopulation dynamics of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island
TL;DR: In this paper, the lobate ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi occurs throughout Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, during warm summer months but is often undetectable in the central portion of the bay during winter months.
Journal ArticleDOI
Laboratory culture of the lobate ctenophore Mnemiopsis mccradyi with notes on feeding and fecundity
L. D. Baker,M. R. Reeve +1 more
TL;DR: Their high fecundity, rapid generation time, and ability to self-fertilize help to explain their sudden appearance in bloom proportions at periods of high food concentration in the environment, often referred to in the literature.
Journal ArticleDOI
Predation by and distribution of a ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi A. Agassiz, in the York River estuary
TL;DR: Numbers of small plankters, such as copepods and the larvae of annelids, mollusks and barnacles, varied inversely with the volume of ctenophores present, and stomodaeum analyses confirmed M. leidyi as a predator of these plankters.
BookDOI
Aquatic Invasions in the Black, Caspian, and Mediterranean Seas
TL;DR: Support for the position that a deliberate introduction of Beroe cf ovata to the Caspian Sea will control the local population of Mnemiopsis leidyi is found, and range extensions of Ponto-Caspian aquatic invertebrates in Continental Europe are studied.