A new record of the non indigenous freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii Lankester, 1880 (Cnidaria) in Northern Patagonia (40° S, Chile)

Abstract

A new record of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii in northern Chilean Patagonia is reported. The specimens were collected from Laguna Illahuapi, an oligotrophic shallow lake (15 m maximum depth) in early austral autumn, May 2013. This water body is located in the upper zone of the Rio Bueno basin, Province of Ranco, Region de los Ríos, Chile. The region is characterized by a great diversity of freshwater environments with minimal human pressure. This report confirms the presence of C. sowerbii in Chilean Patagonia and represents the southernmost range of distribution of this exotic medusa in South America. This study also contributes additional information on the limnological characterization of this water body.

Invasive freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii (Lankester, 1880) in Turkey: New locality record and habitat limnoecology, with an overview of distributional data in the Middle East and Balkans

“…In August and September, A. gracile, B. lauterbornii, C. hirundinella, D. divergens, M. simplex, and T. planctonica were the phytoplankton species associated with C. sowerbii. The phytoplankton composition and trophic status are more or less similar to other temperate artificial lakes or reservoirs where the medusa has established summertime populations (Akçaalan et al, 2011;Caputo Galarce et al, 2013;Stefani et al, 2010).…”

A Novel Sampling Method for Collecting the Polyp Stage of the Invasive Freshwater Hydrozoan Craspedacusta sowerbii in Aquatic Habitats

“…The organisms we collected on our substrates include many that prey on C. sowerbii frustules and polyps and may also compete with polyp colonies for space. Previous studies comment on the richness of zooplankton in the environments where C. sowerbii are found, as well as the diet habits of the medusa stage [23,24,34,53], and some discuss these predatory relationships as well [36,42], though the feeding habits of the polyp stage are not commented as frequently in the literature, with Lytle [54] and Acker and Muscat [30] being two that demonstrate the impact of diet on polyp behavior. In addition to feeding habits, various organisms also prey on C. sowerbii polyps; from our own experience with culturing C. sowerbii colonies and frustules in the lab, we have observed various mites and chironomids eating colonies and even Hydra eating frustules.…”

Trophic Positions of Polyp and Medusa Stages of the Freshwater Jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii Based on Stable Isotope Analysis

“…Not only does its ability to colonize new habitats surpass that of other freshwater medusa species, but it is also one of the most widespread freshwater invaders in the world [6]. C. sowerbii is probably even more widespread than currently noted, and many first-time records from countries worldwide since the year 2000 [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] suggest a continued expansion of its range.…”