Thursday, April 29, 2010

WHAT IS JELLYFISH PROBLEM-RELATED?

Jellyfish blooms are common occurrences in many marine habitats and are important events controlling plankton dynamics in these systems (Purcell et al., 2001). The increasing of reports on human problems with jellyfish within coastal marine systems has lead to much public attention the ecological role of jellyfish (more specifically medusa of the Phylum Cnidaria: Orders Rhizostomeae and Semaeostomeae) (Whiteman, 2002; Carpenter, 2004; Hamner & Dawson, 2009).
The jellyfish existence has caused ecological and socio-economical problems. Ecologically, they will disturb the food web of the ecosystem of the invaded area since they feed on zooplankton and ichthyoplankton that is also food source for other aquatic animals i.e. fish (Purcell et al., 2007). Besides that, they might cause algae blooming due to the decreasing of zooplankton that feed on them.
In the socio-economic area, the jellyfish may interfere with tourism by stinging swimmers, fishing by clogging nets, aquaculture by killing fish in net-pens and blocking cooling-water intake screens at coastal power plants (Purcell et al., 2007; Richardson et al., 2009; Lynam et al., 2006). Since they are feeding on zooplankton and ichthyoplankton, they also have indirect effects on fisheries by becoming as the competitors of fish and eventually may decrease fish population (Purcell et al., 2007; Richardson et al., 2009). According to Purcell et al. (2007), increased jellyfish and ctenophore populations often are associated with warming caused by climate changes and possibly power plant thermal effluents. In short, the propensity of jellyfish in forming extensive nuisance blooms and their associated socioeconomic effects have largely driven the interest on jellyfish study (CIESM, 2001).

COMING UP NEXT >>> FACTORS RELATED TO JELLYFISH OCCURANCE

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