Effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis in the coastal Western Mediterranean.

Relationships between environmental factors and oscillations in jellyfish abundance, especially in the early life stages, could help to interpret past increases and also predict scenarios in a changing future. For the first time, we present cubozoan spatial and temporal distributions in the earliest...

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Main Authors: Cesar Bordehore, Eva S Fonfría, Cristina Alonso, Beatriz Rubio-Tortosa, Melissa J Acevedo, Antonio Canepa, Silvia Falcó, Miguel Rodilla, Verónica Fuentes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230768
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author Cesar Bordehore
Eva S Fonfría
Cristina Alonso
Beatriz Rubio-Tortosa
Melissa J Acevedo
Antonio Canepa
Silvia Falcó
Miguel Rodilla
Verónica Fuentes
author_facet Cesar Bordehore
Eva S Fonfría
Cristina Alonso
Beatriz Rubio-Tortosa
Melissa J Acevedo
Antonio Canepa
Silvia Falcó
Miguel Rodilla
Verónica Fuentes
author_sort Cesar Bordehore
collection DOAJ
description Relationships between environmental factors and oscillations in jellyfish abundance, especially in the early life stages, could help to interpret past increases and also predict scenarios in a changing future. For the first time, we present cubozoan spatial and temporal distributions in the earliest stages and their relationships with different factors. Abundances of Carybdea marsupialis medusae showed high interannual variability from 2008 to 2014 along the Dénia coast (SE Spain, W Mediterranean). During 2015, samples were collected from 11 beaches along 17 km of coastline, 8 times from January to November in order to determine the effects of environmental factors on the distribution of juvenile C. marsupialis. Juveniles (≤ 15 mm diagonal bell width) were present from May to July, with more sampled near shore (0-15 m). Most of them occurred in June when their numbers were unequal among beaches (average 0.05 ind m-3, maximum 6.71 ind m-3). We tested distributions of juveniles over time and space versus temperature, salinity, nutrients (N, P and Si), chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), and zooplankton abundance. Temperature and cladocerans (zooplankton group) were significantly positively correlated with juvenile distribution, whereas Chl-a concentration was weakly negative. By contrast, in 2014, high productivity areas (Chl-a and zooplankton) overlapped the maximum adult abundance (5.2 ind m-3). The distribution of juveniles during 2015 did not spatially coincide with the areas where ripe adults were located the previous year, suggesting that juveniles drift with the currents upon release from the cubopolyps. Our results yield important insights into the complexity of cubozoan distributions.
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spelling doaj.art-ec4ce0468cf54db0961ce408ffbe23ed2022-12-21T19:10:02ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01156e023076810.1371/journal.pone.0230768Effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis in the coastal Western Mediterranean.Cesar BordehoreEva S FonfríaCristina AlonsoBeatriz Rubio-TortosaMelissa J AcevedoAntonio CanepaSilvia FalcóMiguel RodillaVerónica FuentesRelationships between environmental factors and oscillations in jellyfish abundance, especially in the early life stages, could help to interpret past increases and also predict scenarios in a changing future. For the first time, we present cubozoan spatial and temporal distributions in the earliest stages and their relationships with different factors. Abundances of Carybdea marsupialis medusae showed high interannual variability from 2008 to 2014 along the Dénia coast (SE Spain, W Mediterranean). During 2015, samples were collected from 11 beaches along 17 km of coastline, 8 times from January to November in order to determine the effects of environmental factors on the distribution of juvenile C. marsupialis. Juveniles (≤ 15 mm diagonal bell width) were present from May to July, with more sampled near shore (0-15 m). Most of them occurred in June when their numbers were unequal among beaches (average 0.05 ind m-3, maximum 6.71 ind m-3). We tested distributions of juveniles over time and space versus temperature, salinity, nutrients (N, P and Si), chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), and zooplankton abundance. Temperature and cladocerans (zooplankton group) were significantly positively correlated with juvenile distribution, whereas Chl-a concentration was weakly negative. By contrast, in 2014, high productivity areas (Chl-a and zooplankton) overlapped the maximum adult abundance (5.2 ind m-3). The distribution of juveniles during 2015 did not spatially coincide with the areas where ripe adults were located the previous year, suggesting that juveniles drift with the currents upon release from the cubopolyps. Our results yield important insights into the complexity of cubozoan distributions.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230768
spellingShingle Cesar Bordehore
Eva S Fonfría
Cristina Alonso
Beatriz Rubio-Tortosa
Melissa J Acevedo
Antonio Canepa
Silvia Falcó
Miguel Rodilla
Verónica Fuentes
Effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis in the coastal Western Mediterranean.
PLoS ONE
title Effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis in the coastal Western Mediterranean.
title_full Effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis in the coastal Western Mediterranean.
title_fullStr Effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis in the coastal Western Mediterranean.
title_full_unstemmed Effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis in the coastal Western Mediterranean.
title_short Effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis in the coastal Western Mediterranean.
title_sort effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae carybdea marsupialis in the coastal western mediterranean
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230768
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