Macromedusae of Southern Brazil: temporal variation, population structure and biochemical composition

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to record the macromedusae species on the north coast of Santa Catarina, and to estimate their population dynamics and variations in their biochemical composition, based on the specimens obtained in the by-catch of artisanal shrimp fishing between January 2012 and October 2014. Cohort analysis was performed to evaluate the population dynamic of the most frequent species. Biochemical analyses of the umbrellas were conducted on their water, carbohydrate, protein, lipid, ash and metals contents. Six species of macromedusae were found: Chiropsalmus quadrumanus and Tamoya haplonema (Cubozoa); Olindias sambaquiensis and Rhacostoma atlanticum (Hydrozoa), and Chrysaora lactea and Lychnorhiza lucerna (Scyphozoa). The species with the highest occurrence, and typical of the region, were Olindias sambaquiensis and Rhacostoma atlanticum. These species showed high inter-year variability, the highest densities being observed between autumn and winter 2014, associated with a less severe winter and coastal water with higher salinity. The distribution of size classes of O. sambaquiensis suggests two welldefined cohorts in spring/summer and in autumn/winter. R. atlanticum showed continuous reproduction and inter-year variation but a high value for protein content related to the reproductive peak in autumn. However, the Cubozoa species showed higher organic matter and metal content than the other classes. AbstrAct

Wind Drifting vs. Pulsating Swimming Jellyfish: Respiratory Metabolism and Composition Differences in Physalis physalis, Velella velella, Aurelia aurita, and Pelagia noctiluca

“…Comparing the P, L, K content per WM in this study (Figure 2) with the gelatinous zooplankton composition analyses by several authors (Arai et al, 1989;Clarke et al, 1992;Malej et al, 1993;Lucas, 1994Lucas, , 2009Bailey et al, 1995;Dubischar et al, 2006;De Barba et al, 2016), we can observe that the content of these components is higher in P. physalis and V. velella with certain minor exceptions. Hence, for a similar WM, these two could be a better source of some of these components due to their low water content.…”

“…When comparing the biochemical content per DM (Table 5) we observed that the range in the literature for protein was generally below the mean content determined in P. physalis and V. velella (Arai et al, 1989;Clarke et al, 1992;Malej et al, 1993;Lucas, 1994Lucas, , 2009Bailey et al, 1995;Dubischar et al, 2006;De Barba et al, 2016). Table 5 also depicts several exceptions, for example, the two cubozoans, Chiropsalmus quadrumanus and Tamoya haplonema (De Barba et al, 2016); as well as a few arctic species (Percy and Fife, 1981); Aglantha digitale (Ikeda, 1972); certain edible species (Khong et al, 2016); and the gonad tissue of A. aurita and Cyanea capillata (Lucas, 1994;Doyle et al, 2007). The higher presence of protein in the neustonic hydrozoans may be due to the protein-based blue pigment, protein-based venoms, chitin-protein complexes associated with the pneumatophore, or the protein in extracellular fluids (Lane et al, 1965;Gainey, 1972;Zagalsky and Herring, 1977;Tamkun and Hessinger, 1981;Roberts, 1992).…”

“…The gelatinous zooplankton L/DM range in the literature varied widely (Table 5; Arai et al, 1989;Clarke et al, 1992;Malej et al, 1993;Lucas, 1994Lucas, , 2009Bailey et al, 1995;Dubischar et al, 2006;De Barba et al, 2016). P. physalis presents above most measurements in the other species of this article (Figure 2).…”

“…The results here for A. aurita and P. noctiluca were within this range while the K/DM ratios for the two hydrozoans were, in general, above this range (Table 5). The only exceptions were the K content described in the previously mentioned cubozoans, in the hydrozoan, Olindias sambaquiensis (De Barba et al, 2016), and in edible jellyfish (Khong et al, 2016). However, this was mainly due to the K content being calculated from other components instead of being measured.…”

First records of jellyfish (Cubozoa, Scyphozoa), siphonophores (Hydrozoa), and ctenophores (Tentaculata) in the Lobos-Tuxpan Reef System, Mexico

“…Distribución geográfica. Uruguay (Leoni et al, 2016); Brasil (Barba et al, 2016); noreste del Golfo de México (Segura-Puertas et al, 2009); suroeste del Golfo de México: Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano (Ocaña-Luna et al, 2015).…”