In situ observations of Stygiomedusa gigantea in the Gulf of Mexico with a review of its global distribution and habitat
Four individuals of the large scyphozoan jellyfish Stygiomedusa gigantea were observed in the northern Gulf of Mexico over 2005–2009 by industrial remotely operated vehicles as part of the SERPENT Project. One of these observations included the symbiotic bythitid fish Thalassobathia pelagica . Prior...
Published in: | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom |
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2010
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315410000536 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315410000536 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0025315410000536 2024-06-23T07:50:38+00:00 In situ observations of Stygiomedusa gigantea in the Gulf of Mexico with a review of its global distribution and habitat Benfield, Mark C. Graham, William M. 2010 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315410000536 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315410000536 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom volume 90, issue 6, page 1079-1093 ISSN 0025-3154 1469-7769 journal-article 2010 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0025315410000536 2024-06-12T04:04:25Z Four individuals of the large scyphozoan jellyfish Stygiomedusa gigantea were observed in the northern Gulf of Mexico over 2005–2009 by industrial remotely operated vehicles as part of the SERPENT Project. One of these observations included the symbiotic bythitid fish Thalassobathia pelagica . Prior to these observations, neither S. gigantea nor T. pelagica had been observed in, or collected from the Gulf of Mexico. In order to summarize the available information on S. gigantea , we located 110 observations obtained over 110 years (1899–2009) representing 118 individual specimens of this species from around the world. The resulting dataset confirms that this species is cosmopolitan occurring with records from all oceans except the Arctic. While the depth-range of the four Gulf of Mexico specimens was bathypelagic, there appears to be a pattern of S. gigantea occurring in mesopelagic and epipelagic depth-zones at high latitudes, particularly in the Southern Ocean and mesopelagic and bathypelagic depths at mid- and low-latitudes. This pattern may be related to the meridional vertical distribution of temperature or perhaps avoidance of light levels that could degrade porphyrin pigments. There was no evidence that this species migrates vertically. Two of the individuals in the Gulf of Mexico appeared to be actively clinging to subsea structures and we speculate that this is a consequence of its normal mode of feeding, which may entail using its large oral lobes to hold on to, and trap prey. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Southern Ocean Cambridge University Press Arctic Southern Ocean Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 90 6 1079 1093 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Four individuals of the large scyphozoan jellyfish Stygiomedusa gigantea were observed in the northern Gulf of Mexico over 2005–2009 by industrial remotely operated vehicles as part of the SERPENT Project. One of these observations included the symbiotic bythitid fish Thalassobathia pelagica . Prior to these observations, neither S. gigantea nor T. pelagica had been observed in, or collected from the Gulf of Mexico. In order to summarize the available information on S. gigantea , we located 110 observations obtained over 110 years (1899–2009) representing 118 individual specimens of this species from around the world. The resulting dataset confirms that this species is cosmopolitan occurring with records from all oceans except the Arctic. While the depth-range of the four Gulf of Mexico specimens was bathypelagic, there appears to be a pattern of S. gigantea occurring in mesopelagic and epipelagic depth-zones at high latitudes, particularly in the Southern Ocean and mesopelagic and bathypelagic depths at mid- and low-latitudes. This pattern may be related to the meridional vertical distribution of temperature or perhaps avoidance of light levels that could degrade porphyrin pigments. There was no evidence that this species migrates vertically. Two of the individuals in the Gulf of Mexico appeared to be actively clinging to subsea structures and we speculate that this is a consequence of its normal mode of feeding, which may entail using its large oral lobes to hold on to, and trap prey. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Benfield, Mark C. Graham, William M. |
spellingShingle |
Benfield, Mark C. Graham, William M. In situ observations of Stygiomedusa gigantea in the Gulf of Mexico with a review of its global distribution and habitat |
author_facet |
Benfield, Mark C. Graham, William M. |
author_sort |
Benfield, Mark C. |
title |
In situ observations of Stygiomedusa gigantea in the Gulf of Mexico with a review of its global distribution and habitat |
title_short |
In situ observations of Stygiomedusa gigantea in the Gulf of Mexico with a review of its global distribution and habitat |
title_full |
In situ observations of Stygiomedusa gigantea in the Gulf of Mexico with a review of its global distribution and habitat |
title_fullStr |
In situ observations of Stygiomedusa gigantea in the Gulf of Mexico with a review of its global distribution and habitat |
title_full_unstemmed |
In situ observations of Stygiomedusa gigantea in the Gulf of Mexico with a review of its global distribution and habitat |
title_sort |
in situ observations of stygiomedusa gigantea in the gulf of mexico with a review of its global distribution and habitat |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315410000536 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315410000536 |
geographic |
Arctic Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Southern Ocean |
genre |
Arctic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Arctic Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom volume 90, issue 6, page 1079-1093 ISSN 0025-3154 1469-7769 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0025315410000536 |
container_title |
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom |
container_volume |
90 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1079 |
op_container_end_page |
1093 |
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1802641544932491264 |