Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-lvwk9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-06T11:46:43.105Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Vertical Distribution, Morphology and Diet of Proboscidactyla Stellata (Cnidaria: Limnomedusae) in Lough Hyne Marine Nature Reserve, Co. Cork, Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

L. Ballard
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Prospect Row, University College, Cork, Ireland
A. Myers
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Prospect Row, University College, Cork, Ireland

Extract

The vertical distribution, morphology and diet of Proboscidactyla stellata (Cnidaria: Limnomedusae) were studied in Lough Hyne over a two year period. Vertical hauls of four depth strata, 40–30 m, 30–20 m, 20–10 m and 10–0 m, were taken monthly and at 4 h intervals for a period of 48 h in July and 24 h in September 1994. Proboscidactyla stellata was largely concentrated in the lower 20 m of the water column reaching a maximum of 21 m−3 at 30–20 m depth in June 1993. An oxythermocline occurred at 25–30 m depth in the summer and autumn months of 1993 and affected the vertical distribution of the medusae. Six morphs of the species, varying in the number of gonads, were found in the lough. Bivalve veligers, which P. stellata actively selected, formed 83% of the diet.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, P. & Mackie, G., 1977. Electrically coupled, photosensitive neurons control swimming in a jellyfish. Science, New York, 197, 186188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballard, L. & Myers, A., 1996. Seasonal changes in the vertical distribution of five species of the family Bougainvilliidae (Cnidaria: Anthomedusae) in Lough Hyne, south-west Ireland. Scientia Marina, 60, 6974. [Special Issue: Advances in Hydrozoan Biology.]Google Scholar
Bouillon, J., 1985. Essai de classification des Hydropolypes-Hydromeduses (Hydrozoa-Cnidaria). Indo-Malayan Zoology, 2, 29243.Google Scholar
Boyd, R.J., O'ceidigh, P. & Wilkinson, A., 1973. Investigations of the plankton of the west coast of Ireland. IV. Pelagic cnidaria of the Galway Bay area 1956–72, with a revision of the previous records for these species in Irish inshore waters. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy B, 73, 383403.Google Scholar
Browne, E.T., 1896. The medusae of Valencia Harbour, Co. Kerry. Irish Naturalist, 5, 179181.Google Scholar
Browne, E.T., 1900. The fauna and flora of Valencia Harbour on the west coast of Ireland. II. The Medusae (1895–98). Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy B, 5, 694736.Google Scholar
Delap, M.J., 1924. Further notes on the plankton of Valencia Harbour 1906–1923. Irish Naturalist, 33, 16.Google Scholar
Delap, M. & Delap, C., 1905. Notes on the marine plankton of Valencia Harbour, 1899–1901. Annual Report of Fisheries in Ireland, 1902–3, 2, 319.Google Scholar
Delap, M. & Delap, C., 1906. Notes on the plankton of Valencia Harbour, 1902–1905. Scientific Investigations of the Fisheries Branch, Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, 7, 321.Google Scholar
Fancett, M.S., 1988. Diet and prey selectivity of Scyphomedusae from Port Phillip Bay, Australia. Marine Biology, 98, 503509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farran, G.P., 1914. Clare Island survey. Notes on the marine plankton. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy B, 31, 18.Google Scholar
Gabriel, W.L., 1978. Statistics of selectivity. In Gutshop 1978 (ed. S.J., Lipovosky and C.A., Simensted), pp. 6266. Seattle: Washington Sea Grant Publications.Google Scholar
Gough, L.H., 1906. Plankton collected at Irish light stations in 1904. Scientific Investigations of the Fisheries Branch, Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, 6, 355.Google Scholar
Hensey, M.P., 1980. Zooplankton and oceanographic conditions in the Shannon Estuary, Ireland. MSc thesis, National University of Ireland.Google Scholar
Kitching, J. A. & Ebling, F.J., 1967. Ecological studies at Lough Ine. Advances in Ecological Research, 4, 197292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramp, P.L., 1959. The Hydromedusae of the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters. Dana Report, 46, 1283.Google Scholar
Kramp, P.L., 1961. Synopsis of the medusae of the world. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 40, 1469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, R.J., 1987. Trophic ecology of planktonic gelatinous predators in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia: diets and prey selection. Journal of Plankton Research, 9, 811836.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, C.E., 1983. Vertical migration and diel activity patterns of Hydromedusae: studies in a large tank. Journal of Plankton Research, 5, 619635.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pages, F., Bouillon, J. & Gili, J.-M., 1991. Four new species of hydromedusae (Cnidaria-Hydrozoa) from the coast of south-western Africa. Zoologica Scripta, 20, 8998.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pages, F. & Gili, J.-M., 1992. Influence of the thermocline on the vertical migration of medusae during a 48h sampling period. South African Journal of Zoology, 27, 5059.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pages, F., Gili, J.-M. & Bouillon, J., ed., 1992. Planktonic cnidarians of the Benguela Current. Scientia Marina, 56, supplement 1, 1144.Google Scholar
Purcell, J.E., Cresswell, F.P., Cargo, D.G. & Kennedy, V.S., 1991. Differential ingestion and digestion of bivalve larvae by the scyphozoan Chrysaora quinquecirrha and the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, 18, 103111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purcell, J.E. & Mills, C.E., 1988. The correlation between nematocyst types and diets in pelagic hydrozoa. In The biology of nematocysts (ed. D.A., Hessinger and H.M., Lenhoff), pp. 463485. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purcell, J.E. & Nemazie, D. A., 1992. Quantitative feeding ecology of the hydromedusan Nemopsis bachei in Chesapeake Bay. Marine Biology, 113, 305311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roe, H.S.J., James, P.T. & Thurston, M.H., 1984. The diel migration and distributions within a mesopelagic community in the north-east Atlantic. 6. Medusae, ctenophores, amphipods and euphausiids. Progress in Oceanography, 13, 425460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, F.S., 1953. The Medusae of the British Isles. I. Anthomedusae, Leptomedusae, Limnomedusae, Trachymedusae and Narcomedusae. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Russell, F.S., 1978. Addenda to Hydromedusae. Fiches d'Identification du Zooplancton, 161, 14.Google Scholar
Ryan, T. A., 1982. Zooplankton, temperature and salinity in Bantry Bay and Long Island Bay, southwest coast of Ireland. MSc thesis, National University of Ireland.Google Scholar
Ryan, T.H., Rodhouse, P.G., Roden, C.M. & Hensey, M.P., 1986. Zooplankton fauna of Killary Harbour: the seasonal cycle of abundance. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 66, 731748.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thain, V.M., Jones, J. & Kitching, J.A., 1981. Distribution of zooplankton in relation to the thermocline and oxycline in Lough Ine, Co. Cork. Irish Naturalist Journal, 20, 292295.Google Scholar
Toonen, R.J. & Chia, F.-S., 1993. Limitations of laboratory assessments of coelenterate predation: container effects on the prey selection of the Limnomedusa, Proboscidactyla flavicirrata (Brandt). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 167, 215—235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, E.P. & Greene, J.R., 1859. Report on the marine fauna of the south and west coasts of Ireland. Report. British Association for the Advancement of Science, 2, 176181.Google Scholar