The invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi overwinters in high abundances in the subarctic Baltic Sea

Viitasalo, Satu; Lehtiniemi, Maiju; Katajisto, Tarja

doi:10.1093/plankt/fbn088

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Our findings call for a thorough survey covering different parts of the Baltic Sea and seasons, to revise species composition of ctenophores and their distribution, including invasive M. leidyi. During our field studies in the northern Baltic Sea, we have taken hundreds of ctenophore samples and examined tens of thousands of individuals; however, no lobate forms have ever been observed, with individuals #2 mm clearly dominating (Viitasalo et al 2008) and the largest ones being 10-12 mm. Although Mnemiopsis occurrence reported from the North Sea, Kattegat, and Belt Sea and Bornholm areas is well supported by observations of lobate forms (Faasse and Bayha 2006;Javidpour et al 2006;Haslob et al 2007), to the best of our knowledge, they have never been collected north of Gotland.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular evidence for the occurrence of ctenophore Mertensia ovum in the northern Baltic Sea and implications for the status of the Mnemiopsis leidyi invasion

Gorokhova

Lehtiniemi²,

Viitasalo-Frösen³

et al. 2009

Limnology & Oceanography

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Nucleotide sequence analysis of 18S ribosomal RNA gene (rRNA), internal transcribed spacer, and 5.8S rRNA was used for taxonomic identification of ctenophores collected in the northern Baltic Sea, where invasive Mnemiopsis leidyi and native Pleurobrachia pileus have been reported to occur. Contrary to previous reports, sequence analysis of 53 randomly selected specimens from seven stations revealed that none of them were M. leidyi or P. pileus. The 18S rRNA and 5.8S rRNA sequences were 100% identical to those of Mertensia ovum, a ctenophore with a broad Arctic and circumboreal distribution, which has never been reported to occur in the Baltic Sea. Polymerase chain reaction screening with primers designed to amplify all three species, and using ctenophores collected by vertically stratified sampling, confirmed that all ctenophores collected in this survey were M. ovum. The ctenophore abundance was high, up to 4500 individuals m 22 , positively correlating with salinity. Our findings emphasize the utility of applying molecular tools to biological surveys and the importance of rigorous species identification. They also indicate that M. leidyi, which is a threat to the southern Baltic ecosystem, does not occur in the northern part of the sea, and call for a pan-Baltic survey to establish current distributions of ctenophores, both native and invasive.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular evidence for the occurrence of ctenophore Mertensia ovum in the northern Baltic Sea and implications for the status of the Mnemiopsis leidyi invasion

Gorokhova

Lehtiniemi²,

Viitasalo-Frösen³

et al. 2009

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…Its native habitat is the eastern coastal waters of the North and South American continents and it has been introduced into the Black, Marmara, the northern Aegean Seas in the early 1980s (Shiganova et al, 2001) as well as into the Caspian Sea (Finenko et al, 2006a). It was recently observed at growing quantities in western and northern European coastal waters as well as the Baltic Sea (Faasse and Bayha, 2006;Javidpour et al, 2006;Boersma et al, 2007;Haslob et al, 2007;Lehtiniemi et al, 2007;Oliveira, 2007;Riisgård et al, 2007;Viitasalo et al, 2008). Its establishment and population outbreak in the Black Sea was regarded as one of the most dramatic gelatinous invasion events with profound implications for ecosystem functioning (Kideys, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invasion dynamics of the alien ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi and its impact on anchovy collapse in the Black Sea

Oğuz

Fach

Salihoğlu

2008

Journal of Plankton Research

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The mechanisms governing the unprecedented 1989 -90 anchovy -Mnemiopsis shift event in the Black Sea were evaluated with a coupled model of bioenergetic-based anchovy population dynamics and lower trophic food web structure. Simulations showed that a combination of direct and density-dependent effects of overfishing, eutrophication-induced nutrient enrichment, climate-induced over-enrichment and temperature-controlled Mnemiopsis spring production were involved in the shift. Eutrophication made the system vulnerable to further enrichment through the change of regional climate to a severe winter regime during 1985 -87. While Mnemiopsis was acclimating to its new environment, increasing nitrate flux into the euphotic layer enhanced the carrying capacity of the system, but a disproportionate Mnemiopsis biomass increase was delayed until spring temperature conditions returned to normal in 1988 -89. Enhanced carrying capacity provided a competitive advantage of food consumption to Mnemiopsis compared with anchovy, and warm spring temperature conditions promoted their spring -summer production. Prevalent high fishery pressure and increasing impact of Mnemiopsis on the food web further induced the anchovy stock collapse. However, the shift event did not result in alternation of the system to a new totally Mnemiopsis-invaded quasi-stable regime. Instead, anchovy started recovering when the subsequent strong 1991 -93 cooling regime limited the Mnemiopsis population growth. Our analysis indicated that the switch of a large marine ecosystem to a totally gelatinous invader-dominated state requires extremely strong environmental perturbations. More often, environmental disturbances create a suitable niche for an alien gelatinous invader to become a member of the food web structure, and to share food resources with the native small pelagic fish community.

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“…Hansson 2006). While M. leidyi has also been reported in the northern Baltic Sea (Lehtiniemi et al 2007, Viitasalo et al 2008, these ranges were based on misidentification of the morphologically similar (as a larva) cydippid ctenophore Mertensia ovum, previously unknown in the Baltic Sea (Gorokhova et al 2009). However, M. leidyi occurs regularly as far east as the Bornholm Basin as verified by genetic analyses (Schaber et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and reproduction of the Arctic ctenophore Mertensia ovum in the Baltic Sea

Lehtiniemi¹,

Gorokhova²,

Bolte³

et al. 2013

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi overwinters in high abundances in the subarctic Baltic Sea

Cited by 10 publications

References 16 publications

Molecular evidence for the occurrence of ctenophore Mertensia ovum in the northern Baltic Sea and implications for the status of the Mnemiopsis leidyi invasion

Molecular evidence for the occurrence of ctenophore Mertensia ovum in the northern Baltic Sea and implications for the status of the Mnemiopsis leidyi invasion

Invasion dynamics of the alien ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi and its impact on anchovy collapse in the Black Sea

Distribution and reproduction of the Arctic ctenophore Mertensia ovum in the Baltic Sea

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