First records of the jellyfishes Thysanostoma loriferum (Ehrenberg, 1837) and Netrostoma setouchianum (Kishinouye, 1902) in Hong Kong waters

Abstract

Jellyfish have wide distributions throughout the world’s oceans, with new species records emerging from increasingly broad areas as novel identification approaches are implemented, including citizen science. Here, the first accounts of Thysanostoma loriferum (Ehrenberg, 1837) and Netrostoma setouchianum (Kishinouye, 1902) in Hong Kong waters are reported based on photographs and videos collected by the Hong Kong Jellyfish Project. Together, these sightings obtained through a citizen science project provide evidence for a greater diversity of jellyfish in Hong Kong oceanic waters than has previously been recognized.

Jellyfish in Hong Kong: a citizen science dataset

“…Due to Hong Kong’s status as a major maritime port with highly disturbed shorelines, there is also a high potential for invasive marine species to be present [ 32 ] . The biodiversity of Hong Kong is extensively studied; however, gaps remain in the publicly available records, particularly in terms of species records and how they are changing over time, with the potential for previously unrecorded species to be found [ 33 ] . All jellyfish observations from the HKJP were made in Hong Kong waters.…”

“…Because of the difficulties in engaging in marine science due to potentially high costs and the need for specialized equipment, as well as the lack of knowledge about local jellyfish occurrences and ecology, this citizen science dataset can meaningfully contribute to our understanding of Hong Kong’s marine biodiversity. The HKJP has produced important information on the previously unrecorded presence of additional species of scyphozoans, hydromedusa, and even cubozoans, as well as documenting general occurrence patterns [ 12 , 33 , 39 ] , showing the potential for citizen science to continue adding to knowledge of local jellyfish. …”

Motivations and Barriers to Participation in Citizen Science: The Case Study of the Hong Kong Jellyfish Project

“…Observations about biodiversity can be reported to the iNaturalist platform, which is popular in Hong Kong with more than 932,000 observations submitted by more than 18,900 citizen scientists as of May 2023 (iNaturalist 2023). Citizen science approaches are being applied in local programmes monitoring the environment (e.g., marine rubbish and produce packaging, PFS 2021; light pollution, Pun and So 2012;stream water quality, Ho et al 2020) and biodiversity (e.g., invasive Chinese Water dragons, Mo 2019; blooms of toxic red dinoflagellates in the ocean, known as red tides, AFCD 2020; jellyfish, Falkenberg 2022 andTerenzini et al 2023).…”