Scyphozoan jellyfish (Cnidaria, Medusozoa) from Amazon coast: distribution, temporal variation and length-weight relationship

Author(s)

Banha, Thomas N. S. ^{[1, 2]} ; Morandini, Andre C. ^{[3, 4]} ; Rosario, Renan P. ^[5] ; Martinelli Filho, Jose E. ^{[1, 5]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Fed Para, Inst Geociencias, Lab Oceanog Biol, Av Augusto Correa 01, BR-66075110 Belem, PA - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Oceanog, Lab Ecol & Evolucao Mar Profundo, BR-05508120 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Dept Zool, TV 14, A101 Butanta, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Biol Marinha, Rodovia Manoel Hypolito Rego, Km 131, 50 S-N, BR-11600000 Sao Sebastiao, SP - Brazil

^[5] Univ Fed Para, Inst Geociencias, Programa Posgrad Oceanog, Av Augusto Correa 01, BR-66075110 Belem, PA - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of Plankton Research; v. 42, n. 6, p. 767-778, NOV-DEC 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Despite the importance of jellyfish in marine ecosystems, many basic biological and ecological aspects remain understudied, especially in tropical regions. Here, we report on scyphozoan jellyfish distribution and ecology to the Amazon coast for the first time, adding the records of Chrysaora lactea, Lychnorhiza lucerna and Stomolophus fritillarius. We also review the records for the three species for the whole Brazilian coastline, describe temporal variability within an Amazon estuary and length-weight relationships. The three species displayed a widespread distribution on the Brazilian coast. In the studied estuary, the species are unevenly distributed throughout the year and their presence was not clearly correlated with environmental factors examined, although L. lucerna is more common during the dry season, as indicated by multivariate and correlation analysis. The length-weight relationships were significant for both L. lucerna (R-2 = 0.86, P < 0.0001) and S. fritillarius (R-2 = 0.75, P < 0.0001). Jellyfish variability is still unexplained within the estuary despite our 3-year sampling. These jellyfish may be more abundant during the dry season due to the retraction of the amazon plume, but additional sampling designs and methods are needed to test this hypothesis. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/21007-9 - Recognizing the diversity of jellyfishes (Medusozoa, Rhopaliophora)
• Grantee: André Carrara Morandini
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 11/50242-5 - Dimensions of marine life: patterns and process of diversifications in planktonic and benthic cnidarians
• Grantee: Antonio Carlos Marques
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants