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Jellyfish Blooms pp 219–236Cite as

Chrysaora plocamia: A Poorly Understood Jellyfish from South American Waters

Abstract

Blooms and strandings of Chrysaora plocamia are reported to occur along both Atlantic and Pacific South American coasts. First described in Peruvian waters by Lesson (1830) almost two centuries ago as Cyanea plocamia, there is surprisingly little ecological information about this conspicuous animal. This chapter reviews current knowledge about C. plocamia biology and ecology, its relationship with pelagic fisheries and climate and the problems blooms cause in the Humboldt Current and Patagonian shelf ecosystems. Chrysaora plocamia has important ecological roles, including trophic and symbiotic interactions with fish and sea turtles. Population variability has a clear relationship with climate where phases of high C. plocamia biomass were associated with El Niño events occurring during warm “El Viejo” regimes. Interestingly, their estimated biomass occasionally approached those of sardines or anchovies. This large jellyfish negatively affects human industries in the region when abundant, including fisheries, aquaculture, desalination plants and tourism. Understanding relationships between jellyfish blooms and environmental drivers (e.g. ENSO, regime shifts) should allow forecasting of the jellyfish abundance and potential vulnerabilities such that resource managers and industrial fisheries owners may prepare for costly outbreaks.

Keywords

  • Jellyfish blooms
  • Chrysaora plocamia
  • Humboldt Current
  • Patagonia shelf
  • ENSO
  • Climate variability
  • Biological productivity
  • Commensalism
  • Feeding ecology
  • Socio-economic impacts
  • Fisheries

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Acknowledgements

 We deeply thank Mike Dawson and Liza Gomez Daglio (University of California at Merced, USA), Stefan Gelcich (PUC, Chile), Andre Morandini (USP, Brazil), Ricardo “Bebote” Vera (CENPAT-CONICET, Argentina) and Sara Purca (IMARPE), for literature suggestions and for constructive comments on particular sections of this chapter. Photographic material was provided by Mario Rosina, Yuri Hooker (Peru), José Luis Esteves (CENPAT-CONICET, Argentina), José Adrián Acosta Fabio (Argentina), John (Jack) Costello (Providence College, USA). We also thank as well the Peruvian Research Institute (IMARPE) for providing valuable information on jellyfish by-catch. This chapter was supported by CONICET PIP 0152 and by a grant from the Inter American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) CRN 3070 sponsored by the US National Science Foundation (Grant GEO-1128040) to H.M. and E.M.A. This chapter is INIDEP contribution Nº 1793.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), e IIMyC (CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata), Paseo Victoria Ocampo no 1, Mar del Plata, B7602HSA, Argentina

    Hermes Mianzan, Agustin Schiariti & E. Marcelo Acha

  2. Laboratorio Costero de Pisco, Instituto del Mar del Perú (IMARPE), Av. Los Libertadores A-12, Urb. El Golf, Paracas, Ica, Peru

    Javier Quiñones

  3. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, 1020, Valparaíso, Chile

    Sergio Palma

  4. University of Southern Mississippi, 1020 Balch Blvd., Stennis Space Center, Hattiesburg, MS, 39529, USA

    Kelly L. Robinson & William M. Graham

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  1. Hermes Mianzan
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  2. Javier Quiñones
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  3. Sergio Palma
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  5. E. Marcelo Acha
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Correspondence to Hermes Mianzan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Rivers Institute and Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Griffith, Queensland, Australia

    Kylie A. Pitt

  2. National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

    Cathy H. Lucas

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Mianzan, H. et al. (2014). Chrysaora plocamia: A Poorly Understood Jellyfish from South American Waters. In: Pitt, K., Lucas, C. (eds) Jellyfish Blooms. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7015-7_10

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