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Breeding places, population dynamics, and distribution of the giant jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae) in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea

Hydrobiologia volume 754, pages59–74(2015)Cite this article

Abstract

In East Asian waters, concern about giant jellyfish blooms, including Nemopilema nomurai (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae), has increased in recent decades. Based on surveys in 2012 and 2013, as a part of the Chinese Jellyfish 973 Program, we investigated the life cycle in situ of the planktonic stages of this species in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. We found the following results: (1) Offshore of the Changjiang River is one of its principal breeding places, and is the area where the pelagic stages of N. nomurai appear earliest in the YS and ECS. (2) The general distribution pattern of pelagic stages of N. nomurai described previously in the YS and ECS is confirmed from the 2012 and 2013 surveys: From this small area (31.50–33.00°N, 122.00–122.75°E) usually in late May and early June, it expanded into the 31.5–36°N sea area (aggregating in 32–34°N) in June, then continued to expand northward and southward to 30–37°N by August, and then shrank to 34–37°N in October. (3) The biomass and abundance of N. nomurai in 2012 both in June and August were higher than those in 2013. (4) We confirmed that almost all pelagic stages of N. nomurai in the YS and ECS were confined north of 30°N. The breeding places, population dynamics, and mechanism of formation of the distribution pattern of N. nomurai in the YS and ECS in recent years are presented.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. H. Wei for contributing CTD data. We are grateful to the captain and crew of the RV “Beidou” and two fishery boats for their efforts in the field and to the people who provided support in our sampling. We also would thank the three anonymous reviewers for their help in improving this manuscript. Funding was provided by the national key fundamental developing projects No. 2011CB403601, the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences XDA11020305, and NSFC Project (41230963) to S. Sun.

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Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao, 266071, People’s Republic of China
    • Song Sun
    • , Fang Zhang
    • , Chaolun Li
    • , Minxiao Wang
    • , Zhencheng Tao
    •  & Yantao Wang
  2. Jiaozhou Bay Marine Ecosystem Research Station, Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao, 266071, People’s Republic of China
    • Song Sun
    • , Shiwei Wang
    • , Guangtao Zhang
    •  & Xiaoxia Sun
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Correspondence to Fang Zhang.

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Guest editors: Song Sun, Xiaoxia Sun & Ian Jenkinson / Giant Jellyfish Blooms and Ecosystem Change

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Sun, S., Zhang, F., Li, C. et al. Breeding places, population dynamics, and distribution of the giant jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae) in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. Hydrobiologia 754, 59–74 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2266-5

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Keywords

  • Jellyfish bloom
  • Population dynamics
  • Biomass
  • Abundance
  • Life cycle