Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Ecological Role Of Cassiopea In Shallow Mangrove Habitats, David Marcel Durieux
The Ecological Role Of Cassiopea In Shallow Mangrove Habitats, David Marcel Durieux
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea sp., can be locally abundant in shallow mangrove habitats throughout the tropics and subtropics. Unlike other jellyfish, Cassiopea sp. are epibenthic. Due to this unique lifestyle and their ability to achieve high population densities, an understanding is needed of their ecological impacts both individually and in aggregations, particularly given that Cassiopea sp. ranges are expanding poleward due to global climate change. We quantified the fluid flow produced by Cassiopea sp. feeding currents and found that an average-sized Cassiopea sp. can transport over 200 l/h of water in the vertical excurrent jet of their feeding current. Populations of …