A blooming jellyfish in the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean

• Published in: Biology Letters
• Main Authors: Licandro, Priscilla, Conway, D. V. P., Daly Yahia, M. N., Fernandez de Puelles, Maria Luz, Gasparini, Stéphane, Hecq, Jean-Henri, Tranter, P., Kirby, R. R.
• Other Authors: MARE - Centre Interfacultaire de Recherches en Océanologie - ULiège, STARESO
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2010
• Subjects: Jellyfish bloom; Pelagia noctiluca; plankton; climate; temperature; Calvi; Life sciences; Aquatic sciences & oceanology; Sciences du vivant; Sciences aquatiques & océanologie; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/107407; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/107407/1/Licandro%20et%20al.%202010.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0150

peer reviewed A long-term time series of plankton records collected by the continuous plankton recorder (CPR) Survey in the northeast Atlantic indicates an increased occurrence of Cnidaria since 2002. In the years 2007 and 2008, outbreaks of the warm-temperate scyphomedusa, Pelagia noctiluca, appeared in CPR samples between 45°N to 58°N and 1°W to 26°W. Knowing the biology of this species and its occurrence in the adjacent Mediterranean Sea, we suggest that P. noctiluca may be exploiting recent hydroclimatic changes in the northeast Atlantic to increase its extent and intensity of outbreaks. In pelagic ecosystems, Cnidaria can affect fish recruitment negatively. Since P. noctiluca is a highly venomous species, outbreaks can also be detrimental to aquaculture and make bathing waters unusable, thus having profound ecological and socio-economic consequences.