Savannah State

Abstract: In the face of environmental stress and climate change, gelatinous zooplankton (GZ; e.g., ctenophores, scyphozoan jellyfish, hydromedusae, pelagic tunicates) are often thought to be favored over other marine organisms. Previous studies on GZ conclude that they are resilient to many environmental stressors such as hypoxia and/or acidification, and ocean temperature is speculated to be a driving factor in controlling many jellyfish populations worldwide. To determine the effects of environmental stressors on reproduction and ultimately, the potential to contribute to blooms, targeted lab experiments were performed on the early life stages of scyphozoan jellyfish (polyps). While these experimental results lend insight into environmental conditions that may impact the size and location of jellyfish populations, there is still a substantial knowledge gap regarding in situ population dynamics of many gelatinous taxa. Often, GZ are either overlooked or severely under-sampled due to their fragile body composition and patchy distributions. New technologies, such as high-resolution imaging, can lend insight to where these organisms are located, and subsequently, the oceanographic and ecological processes influencing their abundances. In this talk, Dr. Treible will show examples of imagery data used to quantify patterns of GZ abundance and distribution related to oceanographic properties in the northern Gulf of Mexico, as well as preliminary findings of the NSF-funded DolMICROBE Project (#2023133), where in situ imagery was used to sample doliolids (pelagic tunicates) and other zooplankton in the South Atlantic Bight. The combination of targeted lab experiments and fine-scale field sampling of GZ can help fill knowledge gaps to better understand the relationships between GZ and their oceanographic environment.