BIOMASS AND PREDATION OF THE JELLYFISH, AURELIA AURITA L., IN THE BLACK SEA IN OCTOBER 2010
Keywords:
jellyfish Aurelia aurita, biomass, food spectrum, ration, predatory impact on zooplankton, the Black SeaAbstract
Investigations of food spectrum and daily ration of the jellyfish, Aurelia aurita l., in the Northwestern Black See in October 2010 were carried out. Unicellular algae (32%), copepods (24%) and chaetognaths (20%) prevailed in biomass in the jellyfish diet in the shelf areas, while copepods exclusively (77 %) were dominating in the open see. Daily ration of medusa population with a biomass 80 – 220 g m-2 could achieve in autumn 19 – 27 mg m-2, or 0.8 – 2.7 % in energy values versus body energy content. The rate of zooplankton eating out was insufficient to compensate metabolic demands of this species (4 – 6 % day-1 – by the energy equivalent). Eating daily up to 4% of mesoplankton production, this species weakly influenced planktonic community of the sea during the autumn period when the observations were conducted.
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