User:Kliberstein

HELMET JELLYFISH

(in bold is what is already written from the original Wikipedia page)

The helmet jellyfish (Periphylla periphylla) is a luminescent, red-colored jellyfish of the deep sea, belonging to the order Coronatae of the phylum Cnidaria. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Periphylla.

Reproductive cycle and devlopment:

P. periphylla represents an exception, very rarely found in the phylum Cnidaria: the medusae do not go through a polyp stage, thus presenting a "holopelagic" life cycle. They also do not undergo a ephyra stage as well as a sessile stage. The helmet jellyfish is also very unique in its growth and sexual reproduction in that they are the first scyphozoan that undergoes sexual propagation that lacks the planula stage (Jarms et al., 1999). During reproduction, the female helmet jellyfish contain thousands of eggs within their gonads.Their eggs are actually the largest sized eggs within all Cnidaria. The medusae release fertilized eggs in open water and these develop directly into medusae, whose development rests entirely upon the egg's high yolk supply. This yolk supply is seen during the first stage of development. This yolk is found inside of a network of plasma strains. This stage is when nuclei dispersed, and many of them are only found during this stage. During the second stage of development a minor indention is seen. This will then later develop into a mouth. The yolk supply has shrunk to only one to two layers above the nucleus. An acid mucus can now be seen through secretion of the endodermal layer. As the jellyfish enters its third stage of development a smooth pit is visible on its anterior end.  There is now the first indication of a mouth, and their body shape resembles a hat. The amount of yolk granules are now decreasing throughout this stage, and are seen in three to four layers. The fourth stage of development shows their “umbrella” to have four indentions which creates the gastric septa on its inside. This stage is when there is the first indication of a histone. As for stage five, there are now sixteen lappets and four rhopalic buds developed. Their medusa shape is much more defined. There is also nearly no yolk present. Stage six of development is when the first glimpse of an opaque jelly is seen. At the end of the hypstome, the cross-shaped mouth is now opened. The seventh stage of development is when they begin to take on their medusa jellyfish shape. They have twelve tentacles as well as four interradial rhopalia. They do not begin to show pigmentation in this stage, but this stage is when cilia is first seen. The final eighth stage is known for when the purple pigmentation of the helmet jellyfish is now seen in their mouth and stomach (Jarms et al., 1999).

Life style:

The jellyfish is found in depths up to 7,000 m (23,000 ft) and is adapted to its dark environment. Not only have they become adapted and more abundant in darker environments, but they are also found in very opaque and cloudy waters (Ohata et al., 2011). At night, the helmet jellyfish leaves the depths and swims up toward its food, zooplankton.  In the year 2017, many helmet jellyfish were caught to be studied. In this experiment it was found that each jellyfish had only an average of five different species of prey in their digestive system. The prey in their digestive system was examined as well as the abundance of the prey. There was a 27% abundance of copepods, 23% abundance of pteropods, 20% abundance of amphipods, 17% abundance of euphausiids, and a 13% abundance of chaetognaths (Geoffroy 2018).With a full stomach it turns from the surface back to the depths. Other deep-sea inhabitants feed upon its faeces. They move by swimming with their tentacles being in an aboral position (Sornes et al., 2008).

Description:

Helmet jellyfish reach a body size of up to 30 cm (12 in). The average wet weight of the jellyfish is 540 grams (Jarms et al., 1999). .They consist 90% of water, the rest being tissue and gelatinous mass, which give the animals their form. They light themselves from within by means of bioluminescence, the red flashes serving as a signal amongst themselves. Between their marginal lobes sit small sense bulbs, by which the helmet jelly can distinguish between light and dark; they have been observed to avoid light. Their nature of avoiding light has given them the title of being photophobic (Geoffroy 2018).

Distribution:

The helmet jelly is found in every ocean of the world, as well as in the Norwegian fjords and in the Mediterranean Sea.  They can also be found in Iceland and Greenland Seas. Additionally, there has been an increase in their population throughout the northern Barents Sea in recent years. The helmet jellyfish has also been found in an Arctic fjord that is located within western Spitsbergen (Geoffroy 2018).

Current ecological problems:

In many fjords of Norway the helmet jelly has proliferated since the 1970s. It has become a competitor of fish for food and is thereby also a threat for the fishing industry. Not far from Bergen, in the Lurefjord, helmet jellies have proliferated.

Bibliography:

·       Youngbluth, Marsh J.; Båmstedt, Ulf (2001), "Distribution, abundance, behavior and metabolism of Periphylla periphylla, a mesopelagic coronate medusa in a Norwegian fjord.", Hydrobiologia, 451: 321–333, doi:10.1007/978-94-010-0722-1_27

·       Jarms, G.; Tiemann, J.; Båmstedt, U (2002), "Development and Biology of Periphylla periphylla (Peron & Lesueur, 1809) (Scyphozoa, Coronatae) in a Norwegian Fjord", Marine Biology, 141 (4): 647–657, doi:10.1007/s00227-002-0858-x

·       Kaartvedt, Stein; Klevjer, Thor A; Torgersen, Thomas; Sørnes, Tom A; Røstad, Anders (2007), "Diel vertical migration of individual jellyfish ( Periphylla periphylla )", Limnol. Oceanogr., 52 (3): 975–983, doi:10.4319/lo.2007.52.3.0975, JSTOR 4499670

·       Sornes, T.A.; Hosia, A.; Båmstedt, Ulf; Aksnes, D.L. (2008), "Swimming and feeding in Periphylla periphylla (Scyphozoa, Coronatae)", Marine Biology, 153 (4): 653–659, doi:10.1007/s00227-007-0839-1, PMC 6182610

Geoffroy, M., Berge, J., Majaneva, S. et al. Increased occurrence of the jellyfish Periphylla periphylla in the European high Arctic. Polar Biol 41, 2615–2619 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-018-2368-4

Ohata, R., Masuda, R. and Yamashita, Y. (2011), Ontogeny of antipredator performance in hatchery‐reared Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus larvae exposed to visual or tactile predators in relation to turbidity. Journal of Fish Biology, 79: 2007-2018. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.03141.x

Gerhard Jarms , Ulf Båmstedt , Henry Tiemann , Monica B. Martinussen , Jan Helge Fosså & Tore Høisœter (1999) The holopelagic life cycle of the deep-sea medusa Periphylla periphylla (Scyphozoa, Coronatae), Sarsia, 84:1, 55-65, DOI: 10.1080/00364827.1999.10420451

Sötje, I., Tiemann, H. & Båmstedt, U. Trophic ecology and the related functional morphology of the deepwater medusa Periphylla periphylla (Scyphozoa, Coronata). Mar Biol 150, 329–343 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0369-2

Sørnes, T.A., Hosia, A., Båmstedt, U. et al. Swimming and feeding in Periphylla periphylla (Scyphozoa, Coronatae). Mar Biol 153, 653–659 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0839-1

Dupont, Nicolas, Klevjer, T. A., Kaartvedt, S., Aksnesa, D. L., (2009), Diel vertical migration of the deep‐water jellyfish Periphylla periphylla simulated as individual responses to absolute light intensity, Limnology and Oceanography, 54, doi: 10.4319/lo.2009.54.5.1765.

Thor A. Klevjer, Stein Kaartvedt, Ulf Båmstedt, In situ behaviour and acoustic properties of the deep living jellyfish Periphylla periphylla, Journal of Plankton Research, Volume 31, Issue 8, August 2009, Pages 793–803, https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbp036

Lucas, C. H., & Reed, A. J. (2010). Gonad morphology and gametogenesis in the deep-sea jellyfish atolla wyvillei and periphylla periphylla (scyphozoa: Coronatae) collected from cape hatteras and the gulf of mexico. Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 90(6), 1095-1104. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0025315409000824