Abstract
* Corresponding author Abstract The American comb jelly, Mnemiopsis leidyi, was first noted off the central Mediterranean coast of Israel on 3 March 2009, when a swarm interfered with the operation of a desalination plant. Throughout the spring dense populations have been recorded along the entire Israeli coast. The occurrence of M. leidyi in the SE Levant is of great concern because its notorious impacts on fisheries and because its swarms clog seawater intake pipes and hamper the operation of coastal installations.
Highlights
The American comb jelly, Mnemiopsis leidyi, was first noted off the central Mediterranean coast of Israel on 3 March 2009, when a swarm interfered with the operation of a desalination plant
The first occurrence M. leidyi in the Mediterranean Sea was noted in spring-summer 1990 in the Gulfs of Saronikos and Elefsis in the western Aegean Sea (Shiganova et al 2001b, Shiganova et al 2004a) (Annex 1)
In the Mediterranean too, it has been found in lagoons and gulfs influenced by high river runoffs with their reduced salinity and terrigenous nutrient input: its highest abundance in the northern Aegean Sea was noted in Thermaikos and Strymonikos gulfs (Siapatis et al 2008)
Summary
The American comb jelly, Mnemiopsis leidyi, was first noted off the central Mediterranean coast of Israel on 3 March 2009, when a swarm interfered with the operation of a desalination plant. 1865, indigenous in western Atlantic coastal waters (40°N to 46°S), has spread in the past three decades to the Black, Caspian, Baltic and North seas (Mianzan 1999; Shiganova et al 2001a; Javidpour et al 2006; Faasse et al 2006).
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