Distribution and relative importance of jellyfish in a region of hydrothermal venting |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Chemistry, Biology & Marine Science, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Senbaru 1, Nishihara, Nakagami, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan;2. Museum für Naturkunde Berlin – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Science, Invalidenstr. 43, D-10115 Berlin, Germany;1. Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350, Copenhagen, Denmark;2. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4520, USA;3. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Troy University, 210A MSCX, Troy, AL, 36082, USA;1. Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, José Antonio Novais St. 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain;2. Laboratoire Environnement Profond, Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Centre Bretagne - ZI de la Pointe du Diable, CS 10070 - 29280 Plouzané, France |
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| Abstract: | Net sampling to 3000 m depth at Endeavour Ridge in the northeast Pacific in July 1991–1994 shows that medusae in the immediate vicinity of the hydrothermal vent fields often make up a larger proportion of the total zooplankton abundance and biomass from mesopelagic to bathypelagic depths than in the surrounding waters. This was particularly evident in the dominant Trachymedusae, and least evident in the siphonophores. In addition, the large red Scyphomedusa Stygiomedusa gigantea was a major biomass component in the region of the deep (1000–1800 m depth) migrating scattering layers at the vent field, but was not found in any net tows greater than 10 km away from vents. There is no concurrent increase in relative or percent biomass of fish or chaetognaths, which are the other major predators in the community. We hypothesize that predaceous medusae respond opportunistically to the enhanced zooplankton biomass throughout the water column around vents in spring to early summer, in a way that other predators do not. |
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