Population succession and feeding of scyphomedusae, Aurelia aurita, in a eutrophic tropical lagoon in Taiwan

Abstract

Seasonal dynamics and feeding of scyphomedusae, Aurelia aurita, were investigated monthly from 1999 to 2002 in relation to environmental conditions in Tapong Bay, a eutrophic tropical lagoon in southwestern Taiwan. Medusae appeared throughout the year but exhibited seasonal dynamics that were correlated with hydrographic features in the bay. Most ephyrae of A. aurita occurred mainly in the lower flushed and eutrophic inner bay, and during the cold, dry season between November and February. They grew to young medusae with a maximum abundance in spring (March–May), but their numbers abruptly decreased during the warm and rainy summer season in June–September. The remaining medusae then grew rapidly to a maximal size of 29 cm. Mature females spawned in the following autumn when precipitation decreased but zooplankton food was still abundant. These mature individuals decreased in size after spawning and in winter. Gut content analysis revealed that A. aurita fed mainly on copepods and copepod nauplii and less on bivalve larvae and fish eggs. Prey selectivity indices indicated that larger medusae selected positively for copepods while small size medusae preferred copepod nauplii. The overall feeding effect of A. aurita on the standing stock of zooplankton was significant (27%) in the bay. Our results suggest that tidal flow and dense oyster culture pens were the two most important factors influencing the spatial distribution pattern of A. aurita in the bay, while precipitation affected the population abundance seasonally; decreasing water temperature coincided with the mass release of ephyra in late autumn and winter.