Chrysaora plocamia: A Poorly Understood Jellyfish from South American Waters

Abstract

Blooms and strandings of Chrysaora plocamia are reported to occur along both Atlantic and Pacifi c South American coasts. First described in Peruvian waters by Lesson (1830) almost two centuries ago as Cyanea plocamia , there is surprisingly little ecological information about this conspicuous animal. This chapter reviews current knowledge about C. plocamia biology and ecology, its relationship with pelagic fi sheries and climate and the problems blooms cause in the Humboldt Current and Patagonian shelf ecosystems. Chrysaora plocamia has important ecological roles, including trophic and symbiotic interactions with fi sh and sea turtles. Population variability has a clear relationship with climate where phases of high C. plocamia biomass were associated with El Niño events occurring during warm "El Viejo" regimes. Interestingly, their estimated biomass occasionally approached those of sardines or anchovies. This large jellyfi sh negatively affects human industries in the region when abundant, including fi sheries, aquaculture, desalination plants and tourism. Understanding relationships between jellyfi sh blooms and environmental drivers (e.g. ENSO, regime shifts) should allow forecasting of the jellyfi sh abundance and potential vulnerabilities such that resource managers and industrial fi sheries owners may prepare for costly outbreaks.

Biodiversity and spatial distribution of medusae in the Magellan Region (Southern Patagonian Zone)

“…In recent years, high densities of gelatinous cnidarians have been also registered in the Patagonian Fjord Ecosystems of southern Chile, sometimes having a negative impact on aquaculture activities, particularly salmon farming (Palma et al, 2007a;Mianzan et al, 2014). Moreover, cnidarian population increases over time were found in several fjords and channels, showing an increase of three orders of magnitude in the abundance of several species of siphonophores between the Penas Gulf (48°S) and the Trinidad Channel (50°10'S) .…”

Massive salp outbreaks in the inner sea of Chiloe Island (Southern Chile): possible causes and ecological consequences

“…However, the effect of man-made barriers is less well documented (Purcell et al, 2007;Doyle et al, 2008;Baxter et al, 2011;Mianzan et al, 2014). The ISCh possess the majority of the country's salmon farms with over 500 fish farms along the ISCh coast (excluding fjords) (Fig.…”

“…The inner sea of Chiloé is not an exception, where proliferations of the scyphomedusa Chrysaora plocamia and Phacellophora catschatica have affected salmon farming installations (Palma et al, 2007;Bravo et al, 2011). Unfortunately, and as same as most cases, reports as same as impacts are mainly based on anecdotic information given by local farmers (see Mianzan et al, 2014), and more reliable information based on scientific orientated approaches are extremely scarce. The random nature of the occurrence (spatial and temporal) basically associated to a complex life cycle and "r" strategy (Boero et al, 2008), makes gelatinous zooplankton outbreaks very hard to follow.…”

Jellyfish fisheries in the Americas: origin, state of the art, and perspectives on new fishing grounds

“…The most common fishing method employed by jellyfish fisheries is dip-netting, which results in relatively low levels of bycatch and virtually no habitat damage. However, numerous species of juvenile fishes have been documented to associate with jellyfish, presumably using the medusae as food and/or refugia from predators (e.g., Jones 1960;Arai 1988;Kingsford 1993;Brodeur 1998;Purcell and Arai 2001;López-Martínez and Rodríguez-Romero 2008;Mianzan et al 2014). In addition, many invertebrates are known to associate with jellyfish, potentially benefitting from habitat, food, refugia, and transportation (e.g., Brandon and Cutress 1985;Arai 2005;Browne and Kingsford 2005;Towanda and Thuesen 2006;Sal Moyano et al 2012;Schiariti et al 2012b;Á lvarezTello et al 2013;Fleming et al 2014).…”

“…However, there is potential for development of this fishery given the dramatic abundances of this species, which can sometimes approach the biomass of small pelagic fishes in the region Quiñones et al 2015). Large blooms of C. plocamia are often a costly nuisance to fishers, aquaculture, desalination plants, tourism, and other industries (Quiñones et al 2013;Mianzan et al 2014), suggesting that many would welcome a targeted fishery in the area. Indeed, the nuisance of C. plocamia bycatch to fishers was one of the primary motivations to explore the development of a jellyfish fishery in the region.…”