Abstract
We describe a possible cryptic invasion of the toxic Western Pacific hydromedusa Gonionemus vertens (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa, Limnomedusae) in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. G. vertens was first noticed in Eel Pond in Woods Hole (Cape Cod), Massachusetts in 1894, but nearly disappeared in the 1930s, coincident with a large scale die-off of its preferred eelgrass habitat. During the 1894–1930 period, G. vertens was the object of numerous studies by local scientists, and was not reported as stinging. In contrast, Western Pacific G. vertens are known for their toxic sting symptoms, which include severe pain, respiratory distress, and paralysis. Here, we report new sightings in the northwest Atlantic from the late twentieth century onwards. Sightings are most frequent in Waquoit Bay on the southern-facing shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, but medusae have also been found in locations ranging from Long Island (New York) to Wellfleet Harbor on the north side of Cape Cod. We also describe reports of stings with symptoms similar to those produced by the toxic Western Pacific strain. The first sting report that we are aware of occurred in 1990 in Waquoit Bay, and stings have since occurred in most of G. vertens’ known Northwest Atlantic locations. It appears likely that the recent sightings associated with toxic stings represent a new, cryptic invasion of the Western Pacific form. These new observations are cause for public health concern, particularly as warmer temperatures associated with climate change may promote G. vertens blooms and thus the likelihood of dangerous human-jellyfish interactions in a populated, tourism-dependent region.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agassiz L (1862) Contributions to the natural history of the United States of America, vol 4. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, p 330
Ashton GV, Stevens MI, Hart MC, Green DH, Burrows MT, Cook EJ, Willis KJ (2008) Mitochondrial DNA reveals multiple northern hemisphere introductions of Caprella mutica (Crustacea, Amphipoda). Mol Ecol 17(5):1293–1303
Bakker C (1980) On the distribution of ‘Gonionemus vertens’ A. Agassiz (Hydrozoa, Limnomedusae), a new species in the eelgrass beds of Lake Grevelingen (S.W. Netherlands). Hydrobiol Bull 14(3):186–195
Carlton JT (1985) Transoceanic and interoceanic dispersal of coastal marine organisms: the biology of ballast water. Oceanogr Mar Biol 23:313–371
Eastwood M, Quinby K, Bogdanowicz C, Seeley RH, Weeks H, Bemis WE (2009) Borror’s species checklist for the Isles of Shoals archipelago. Shoals Marine Laboratory, Ithaca
Edwards C (1976) A study in erratic distribution: the occurrence of the medusa Gonionemus in relation to the distribution of oysters. Adv Mar Biol 14:251–284
Geller JB, Darling JA, Carlton JT (2010) Genetic perspectives on marine biological invasions. Ann Rev Mar Sci 2:367–393
Gershwin L, Richardson AJ, Winkel KD, Fenner PJ, Lippmann J, Hore R, Avila-Soria G, Brewer D, Kloser RJ, Steven A, Condie S (2003) Biology and ecology of Irukandji jellyfish (Cnidaria: Cubozoa). Adv Mar Biol 66:1–85
Gordon CE (1915) Gonionemus murbachii Mayer. Science 41(1044):26
Hargitt CW (1897) Recent experiments on regeneration. Zool Bull 1(1):27–34
Hargitt CW (1900) Variation among hydromedusæ. Science 12(296):340–342
Johnson CH, Winston JE, Woollacott RM (2012) Western Atlantic introduction and persistence of the marine bryozoan Tricellaria inopinata. Aquat Invasions 7(3):295–303
Kehrl B (2010) Mini jellies in Sedge Lot Pond pack a mega punch. The Enterprise (Falmouth, MA) July 30 2010 (http://www.capenews.net/mashpee/mini-jellies-in-sedge-lot-pond-pack-a-mega-punch/article_4ca651b9-ccd6-5165-9582-71ac9f85ec64.html, Accessed Sept 2015)
Kehrl B (2012) Stinging jellyfish return to Sedge Lot Pond in Mashpee. The Enterprise (Falmouth, MA). 29 June 2012 (http://archive.capenews.net/communities/mashpee/news/1930), Accessed Oct 2015)
Kramp PL (1959) The Hydromedusae of the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters. Dana Rep 46:1–283
Lejeusne C, Bock DG, Therriault TW, MacIsaac HJ, Cristescu ME (2011) Comparative phylogeography of two colonial ascidians reveals contrasting invasion histories in North America. Biol Invasions 13(3):635–650
Lima FP, Wethey DS (2012) Three decades of high-resolution coastal sea surface temperatures reveal more than warming. Nat Commun 3:704
Linkletter LE, Lord EI, Dadswell MJ (1977) A checklist and catalogue of marine fauna and flora of the lower Bay of Fundy of New Brunswick. Huntsman Marine Laboratory, St. Andrews
Mathieson AC, Dawes CJ, Pederson J, Gladych RA, Carlton JT (2008) The Asian red seaweed Grateloupia turuturu (Rhodophyta) invades the Gulf of Maine. Biol Invasions 10(7):985–988
Mayer AG (1910) Medusae of the world. The Hydromedusae, vol II. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication, Washington D.C, p 109
McDermott JJ (1998) The Western Pacific brachyuran (Hemigrapsus sanguineus: Grapsidae), in its new habitat along the Atlantic coast of the United States: geographic distribution and ecology. ICES J Mar Sci J du Cons 55(2):289–298
Murbach L (1895) Preliminary note on the life-history of Gonionemus. J Morphol 11(2):493–496
Murbach L (1909) Some light reactions of the medusa Gonionemus. Biol Bull 17(5):354–368
Naumov DV (1960) Hydroids and hydromedusae of the USSR. Keys to the Fauna of the USSR, Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 70. Translated from Russian by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations
Perkins HF (1903) The development of Gonionema Murbachii. Proc Acad Nat Sci Phila 54:750–790
Perkins LF, Larsen PF (1975) A preliminary checklist of the marine and estuarine invertebrates of Maine. TRIGOM Publication No. 10. The Research Institute of the Gulf of Maine, Portland, ME. p 37
Pigulevsky SV, Michaleff PV (1969) Poisoning by the medusa Gonionemus vertens in the Sea of Japan. Toxicon 7(2):145–149
Rodriguez CS, Pujol MG, Mianzan HW, Genzano GN (2014) First record of the invasive stinging medusa Gonionemus vertens in the southern hemisphere (Mar del Plata, Argentina). Lat Am J Aquat Res 42(3):653–657
Rugh R (1929) Egg laying habits of Gonionemus murbachii in relation to light. Biol Bull 57(5):261–266
Rugh R (1930) Variations in Gonionemus murbachii. Am Nat 64(690):93–95
Schuchert P (2015) World Hydrozoa database. http://www.marinespecies.org/hydrozoa. Accessed at 10 Aug 2015
Smith RI (1964) Keys to marine invertebrates of the Woods Hole region: a manual for the identification of the more common marine invertebrates. Systematics-Ecology Program, Marine Biological Laboratory Contribution No. 11, Woods Hole, pp 208
Stefaniak L, Lambert G, Gittenberger A, Zhang H, Lin S, Whitlatch RB (2009) Genetic conspecificity of the worldwide populations of Didemnum vexillum Kott, 2002. Aquat Invasions 4(1):29–44
Tambs-Lyche H (1964) Gonionemus vertens L. Agassiz (Limnomedusae)—a zoogeographical puzzle. Sarsia 15:1–8
Teissier G (1950) Note sur quelques Hydrozoaires de Roscoff. Arch Zool Exp Gen 87(1):1–10
Thiel M, Gutow L (2005) The ecology of rafting in the marine environment. II. The rafting organisms and community. Oceanogr Mar Biol Ann Rev 43:279–418
Thomas LJ (1921) Morphology and orientation of the otocysts of Gonionemus. Biol Bull 40(6):287–298
Trott TJ (2004) Late 20th-century qualitative intertidal faunal changes in Cobscook Bay, Maine. Northeast Nat 11(sp2):325–354
Uchida T (1976) A new sporozoan-like reproduction in the hydromedusa, Gonionemus vertens. Proc Jpn Acad 52(71):387–388
Warkentine BE, Rachlin JW (2012) Palaemon macrodactylus Rathbun 1902 (oriental hhrimp) in New York: status revisited. Northeast Nat 19(sp6):173–180
Werner B (1950) Die Meduse Gonionemus murbachi Mayer im Sylter Wattenmeer. Zool Jahrb (Systematic) 78:471–505
Yakovlev YM, Vaskovsky VE (1993) The toxic krestovik medusa Gonionemus vertens. Russian J Mar Biol 19(5–6):287–294
Yakovlev YM, Vaskovsky VE (1996) Anthozoans, scyphozoans, and hydrozoans. In: Williamson JA, Burnett JW, Fenner PJ, Rifkin J (eds) Venomous and poisonous marine animals: a medical and biological handbook. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, pp 201–206
Acknowledgments
We thank L. Deegan, E. Enos, B. Grossman, and I. Valiela (Marine Biological Laboratory), H. Golden (University of Connecticut), D. Grunden (Town of Oak Bluffs Shellfish Department; Friends of Farm Pond), N.T. Evans (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries), H. Bayley (Cape Cod National Seashore), P. Colarusso (EPA), E. Nelson (EPA), K. Manzo (Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County), C. Weidman (Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve), R. York (Town of Mashpee Shellfish Department), P. Larsen (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences), L. Harris (University of New Hampshire), and A. Borror (Shoals Marine Laboratory) for sharing their medusa observations and sting accounts. D. Blackwood (USGS) and K. Rathjen (Normandeau Associates) assisted with fieldwork. We also thank J.T. Carlton, D. Calder and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Funding was received from the Community Preservation Committee of Oak Bluffs and the Adelaide M. and Charles B. Link Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Govindarajan, A.F., Carman, M.R. Possible cryptic invasion of the Western Pacific toxic population of the hydromedusa Gonionemus vertens (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) in the Northwestern Atlantic Ocean. Biol Invasions 18, 463–469 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-015-1019-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-015-1019-8