Abstract
A new record of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii in northern Chilean Patagonia is reported. The specimens were collected from Laguna Illahuapi, an oligotrophic shallow lake (15 m maximum depth) in early austral autumn, May 2013. This water body is located in the upper zone of the Rio Bueno basin, Province of Ranco, Region de los Rios, Chile. The region is characterized by a great diversity of freshwater environments with minimal human pressure. This report confirms the presence of C. sowerbii in Chilean Patagonia and represents the southernmost range of distribution of this exotic medusa in South America. This study also contributes additional information on the limnological characterization of this water body.
Highlights
Craspedacusta sowerbii (Lankester, 1880) is a freshwater cnidarian native to the Yangtze valley in China (Kramp 1961)
Tributaries are absent and water level fluctuates depending on precipitation. This lagoon is surrounded by a dense and diverse belt of submerged and emergent macrophytes, grading into forest cover dominated by Nothofagus dombeyi
The phytoplankton and zooplankton composition is similar to plankton communities from other temperate lentic inland water bodies where C. sowerbii has established large summertime populations (Stefani et al 2010; Pérez-Bote et al 2006)
Summary
Craspedacusta sowerbii (Lankester, 1880) is a freshwater cnidarian native to the Yangtze valley in China (Kramp 1961). The medusa stage of this species seems to prefer temperate, stillwater, freshwater bodies of mesotrophic character (Jankowski 2001; Moreno Leon and Ortega- Rubio 2009; Jankowski et al 2008) and water temperatures ranging from 12 to 33°C (Lewis et al 2012) In these lentic aquatic ecosystems C. sowerbii medusa stage is basically planktivorous, and is capable of developing blooms, during the warm seasons (Jakowski et al 2005; Stefani et al 2010; Gophen and Shealtiel 2012). The impact of this jellyfish on inland freshwater ecosystems is unclear and remains insufficiently studied (Oscoz et al 2010)
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