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Contribution to the understanding of seasonal cycle of Aurelia aurita (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) scyphopolyps in the northern Adriatic Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2010

Cristina Gioia Di Camillo ,
Federico Betti ,
Marzia Bo ,
Michela Martinelli ,
Stefania Puce  and
Giorgio Bavestrello
Cristina Gioia Di Camillo*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy
Federico Betti
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy
Marzia Bo
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy
Michela Martinelli
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy
Stefania Puce
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy
Giorgio Bavestrello
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: C.G. Di Camillo, Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Natural populations of Aurelia aurita scyphopolyps, settled on a wreck in the northern Adriatic Sea, were monitored for 22 months in order to study their seasonal cycle. The trend of Aurelia polyps is strongly dependent on water temperature with a peak of abundance in summer and low densities in winter. The strobilation process occurs only once a year, during the cold season, and the estimated number of released ephyrae is 780,000–2,600,000/m2. The species has been recorded only on the iron wreck while it is completely lacking from the close rocky cliff of Conero Promontory, suggesting that the increase of underwater structures of anthropogenic origin could be related to the increases of jellyfish biomass.

Keywords

Aurelia auritalife historyscyphistoma densityAdriatic Sea
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Special Issue 6: In Honour of Sir Frederick Stratten Russell, FRS , September 2010 , pp. 1105 - 1110
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

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