Table of Contents

• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

Swimming behaviors of four species of cnidarian hydromedusae (Aequorea victoria, Mitrocoma cellularia, Stomotoca atra, Aglantha digitale) exposed to two flow conditions in a laboratory turbulence generator - still water and turbulent (ε ~10-7 m2 s-3).

Related Datasets:
HydroSwimParams_IndStats
ANOVA means

The x and z position of the most aboral point on the bell were digitized in ImageJ (NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA) at 1-s intervals to produce trajectories from a total of 82 individual hydromedusae from 34 tank trials.  Resultant data don’t agree well with in situ measurements suggesting that there may have been tank artifacts.

Measured swimming parameters from each individual hydromedusa included depth in the tank, observed speed, acceleration, the net-to-gross displacement ratio (NGDR), time spent swimming and swimming direction.

BCO-DMO Processing:

- added conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date
- renamed parameters to BCO-DMO and BODC standards

Bloom-forming jellyfish are increasing in number, frequency and magnitude, in part due to anthropogenic impacts, underscoring a need for enhanced understanding of trophic exchanges in jellyfish-dominated ecosystems. Interactions between jellyfish and their prey are driven by morphology, behavior, and unique fluid signatures that result in species-specific prey selection patterns. Fluid signatures generated by predators entrain prey, and motile prey organisms have evolved to sense and respond to these stereotyped fluid signatures. The shape and coherence of these unique fluid signatures are strongly mediated by turbulence, which is ubiquitous in the ocean. Yet, the effects of turbulence are almost always neglected in feeding studies. This three-year project will investigate the influence of turbulence on predator-prey interactions using a suite of cnidarian hydromedusae with unique morphologies, fluid signatures and prey selection patterns collected in the region of Friday Harbor Laboratory, WA.

This project seeks to establish a detailed, mechanistic understanding of the effects of turbulence on organism-scale predator-prey interactions using gelatinous zooplankton predators with contrasting predation modes. The PI will investigate prey selection under varying levels of turbulence by studying swimming behavior, wake structure, and predator-prey interactions in a laboratory turbulence generator designed for fragile plankton. The PI will also make in situ measurements of turbulence and observations of organism behavior using a Self-contained Underwater Velocimetry Apparatus (SCUVA). This is a fully submersible instrument for flow visualization, and its use will provide a cross-calibration of field and laboratory rates and behaviors. The influence of turbulence on trophic position among the different species of hydromedusae will be quantified through field studies of prey selection patterns. The proposed comparative approach using species with distinct predation modes will provide insights applicable to other planktonic predators that can be similarly grouped.