Jellyfish Blooms: Ecological and Societal Importance : Proceedings of the International Conference on Jellyfish Blooms, Held in Gulf Shores, Alabama, 12–14 January 2000

`Jellyfish', a group that includes scyphomedusae, hydromedusae, siphonophores and ctenophores, are important zooplankton predators throughout the world's estuaries and oceans. These beautiful creatures have come to public attention as featured exhibits in aquaria and in news headlines as invaders and as providers of genes used in biomedical research. Nevertheless, jellyfish are generally considered to be nuisances because they interfere with human activities by stinging swimmers, clogging power plant intakes and nets of fishermen and fish farms, and competing with fish and eating fish eggs and larvae. There is concern that environmental changes such as global warming, eutrophication, and over-fishing may result in increased jellyfish populations. The literature reviews and research papers in this volume explore the interactions between jellyfish and humans. Papers cover the medical aspects of jellyfish stings, jellyfish as human food and jellyfish fisheries, interactions of jellyfish and fish, effects of environmental changes on jellyfish, effects of introduced ctenophores on the Black Sea ecosystem, factors causing increases or concentrations of jellyfish, and others aspects of jellyfish ecology. This is an important reference for students and professional marine biologists, oceanographers, fishery scientists, and aquarists. Front Matter....Pages i-xviii Medical aspects of jellyfish envenomation: pathogenesis, case reporting and therapy....Pages 1-9 Jellyfish as food....Pages 11-17 Jellyfish fisheries in southeast Asia....Pages 19-26 Interactions of pelagic cnidarians and ctenophores with fish: a review....Pages 27-44 Feeding on survival-food: gelatinous plankton as a source of food for anchovies....Pages 45-53 Jellyfish blooms: are populations increasing globally in response to changing ocean conditions?....Pages 55-68 Pelagic coelenterates and eutrophication: a review....Pages 69-87 Effects of low dissolved oxygen on survival and asexual reproduction of scyphozoan polyps ( Chrysaora quinquecirrha )....Pages 89-95 Numerical increases and distributional shifts of Chrysaora quinquecirrha (Desor) and Aurelia aurita (Linné) (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) in the northern Gulf of Mexico....Pages 97-111 Timing and size of blooms of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in relation to temperature in Narragansett Bay, RI....Pages 113-120 The impact of El Niño events on populations of mesopelagic hydromedusae....Pages 121-129 Jellyfish swarms, tourists, and the Christ-child....Pages 131-144 The ctenophore Mnemiopsis in native and exotic habitats: U.S. estuaries versus the Black Sea basin....Pages 145-176 Chemical composition, respiration and feeding rates of the new alien ctenophore, Beroe ovata , in the Black Sea....Pages 177-186 The new invader Beroe ovata Mayer 1912 and its effect on the ecosystem in the northeastern Black Sea....Pages 187-197 A physical context for gelatinous zooplankton aggregations: a review....Pages 199-212 Developing jellyfish strategy hypotheses using circulation models....Pages 213-221 Flow and prey capture by the scyphomedusa Phyllorhiza punctata von Lendenfeld, 1884....Pages 223-227 Reproduction and life history strategies of the common jellyfish, Aurelia aurita , in relation to its ambient environment....Pages 229-246 In situ estimation of ephyrae liberated from polyps of Aurelia aurita using settling plates in Tokyo Bay, Japan....Pages 247-258 Geographic variation and ecological adaptation in Aurelia (Scyphozoa, Semaeostomeae): some implications from molecular phylogenetics....Pages 259-273 Observations on the distribution and relative abundance of the scyphomedusan Chrysaora hysoscella (Linné, 1766) and the hydrozoan Aequorea aequorea (Forskål, 1775) in the northern Benguela ecosystem....Pages 275-286 A novel cilia-based feature within the food grooves of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis mccradyi Mayer....Pages 287-294 Protistan epibionts of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis mccradyi Mayer....Pages 295-304 Digenea parasites of jellyfish and ctenophores of the southern Atlantic....Pages 305-310 Food and feeding of Aurelia aurita in Tokyo Bay with an analysis of stomach contents and a measurement of digestion times....Pages 311-320 Distribution, abundance, behavior and metabolism of Periphylla periphylla , a mesopelagic coronate medusa in a Norwegian fjord....Pages 321-333 Jellyfish generally are considered to be nuisances because they interfere with human activities by stinging swimmers, clogging power plant intakes and nets of fishermen, killing fish in aquaculture pens, and being both predators and competitors of fish. There is concern that environmental changes such as global warming, eutrophication, over-fishing, and coastal construction may benefit jellyfish populations. During this past decade following the first Jellyfish Blooms volume, some species have bloomed more frequently, expanded their range, and caused more problems for humans. Mnemiopsis leidyi, the ctenophore that invaded the Black Sea in the 1980s and damaged fisheries, now also blooms in the North, Baltic, and Mediterranean seas. Nemopilema nomurai, a giant Asian jellyfish, has bloomed frequently during this decade, causing severe damage to the Japanese fishing industry. Jellyfish Blooms: Interactions with Humans and Fisheries is the fourth volume in this series. Syntheses and original research articles address the question if jellyfish have increased globally and what factors may have contributed to the abundance of jellyfish. This volume is the most extensive to date, containing papers from all continents (except Antarctica) on scyphozoans, hydrozoans, cubozoans, staurozoans, and ctenophores, and on the fate of jellyfish blooms. This is a key reference for students and professional marine biologists, oceanographers, and fishery scientists and managers. Previously published in Hydrobiologia, vol. 690, 2012 Previously published in Hydrobiologia, vol. 690, 2012 Papers in this text include the medical aspects of jellyfish stings, jellyfish as human food and jellyfish fisheries, interactions of jellyfish and fish, effects of environmental changes on jellyfish, and effects of introduced ctenophores on the Black Sea ecosystem.