Abundance of Cnidaria and Ctenophora taxa in the North Atlantic sampled during the G. O. Sars Cruise in May 2013

• Main Authors: Licandro, Priscilla, Aino, Hosia
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2014
• Subjects: Aeginura grimaldii; Aglantha digitale; Anthomedusae; Atolla parva; Atolla sp.; Atolla wyvillei; Basin Scale Analysis; Synthesis and Integration; Beroe abyssicola; Beroe cucumis; Beroe gracilis; Beroe spp.; larvae; Bolinopsis infundibulum; Bolinopsis spp.; Botrynema brucei; Calycophorae; Chromatonema rubrum; Chuniphyes multidentata; Clytia islandica; Clytia spp.; Cosmetira pilosella; Counting; Crossota rufobrunnea; Crossota sp.; Crystallophyes amygdalina; Ctenophora; Cydippida; Date/Time of event; Depth; bottom/max; top/min; water; Dimophyes arctica; Euplokamis spp.; EURO-BASIN; Event label; G. O. Sars (2003); Gilia reticulata; GS13/107; GS13/107_152_JFN; GS13/107_152_MOC; GS13/107_154_MOC; GS13/107_155_JFN; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.829702; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.829702

In recent years a global increase in jellyfish (i.e. Cnidarians and Ctenophores) abundance and a rise in the recurrence of jellyfish outbreak events have been largely debated, but a general consensus on this matter has not been achieved yet. Within this debate, it has been generally recognized that there is a lack of reliable data that could be analyzed and compared to clarify whether indeed jellyfish are increasing throughout the world ocean as a consequence of anthropogenic impact and hydroclimatic variability. During the G.O. Sars cruise jellyfish were collected at different depths in the 0-1000m layer using a standard 1 m**2 Multiple Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System (MOCNESS) (quantitative data), Harstad and macroplankton trawls (qualitative data). The comparison of records collected with different nets during the G.O. Sars transatlantic cruise shows that different sampling gears might provide very different information on jellyfish diversity. Indeed, the big trawls mostly collect relatively large scyphozoan and hydrozoan species such as Atolla, Pelagia, Praya, Vogtia, while small hydrozoans (e.g. Clytia, Gilia, Muggiaea) and early stages of ctenophora are only caught by the smaller nets.