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The potential importance of podocysts to the formation of scyphozoan blooms: a review

  • JELLYFISH BLOOMS
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Abstract

Podocysts are cysts with stored reserves of organic compounds produced beneath the pedal discs of polyps of scyphozoans in the orders Rhizostomae (suborder Dactyliophorae) and Semaeostomae. They excyst small polyps that develop into fully active polyps (scyphistomae) capable of further podocyst production and of medusa production by strobilation. They contribute to increasing the number of polyps and also to survival through seasonal periods of reduced food availability or predation. These attributes may help support scyphozoan blooms, but as yet there are few quantitative data.

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Acknowledgment

I thank D. Welch for help in translating portions of Chinese papers.

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  1. Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, BC, Canada, V9T 6N7

    Mary Needler Arai

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  1. Mary Needler Arai
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Correspondence to Mary Needler Arai.

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Guest editors: K. A. Pitt & J. E. Purcell

Jellyfish Blooms: Causes, Consequences, and Recent Advances

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Arai, M.N. The potential importance of podocysts to the formation of scyphozoan blooms: a review. Hydrobiologia 616, 241–246 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-008-9588-5

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