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Kalevi Salonen1, Pia Högmander1, Victor Langenberg2, Hannu Mölsä3, Jouko Sarvala4, Anne
Tarvainen1 & Marja Tiirola1
Jellyfish Limnocnida tanganyicae - A semiautonomous microcosm in the food web of Lake
Tanganyika
1
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, PO Box 35 (YAC), 40014 University of
Jyväskylä, Finland
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DELTARES, Department of Water Quality and Ecology, PO Box 177, 2600 MH Delft, The
Netherlands
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Fish Innovation Centre, Lohitie 701, 72210 Tervo, Finland
4
Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
kalevi.salonen@jyu.fi, phone 358407592829
Keywords: Genetics, stable isotopes, symbiosis, UV light
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Abstract
Jellyfish are important members of marine food webs, but are rare in lakes. In one of the largest
lakes in the world, Lake Tanganyika, a small Limnocnida tanganyicae jellyfish is a prominent
component of zooplankton, but its role in the ecosystem has remained obscure. In this study, we
addressed the role of jellyfish in Lake Tanganyika using several approaches. These jellyfish
occasionally reached high densities locally. They often inhabited the whole epilimnetic water
column. In particular, the largest individuals showed distinct, low amplitude, diel vertical migration,
which seemed to be crucial to avoid harmful UV radiation. Vertical migration and consequent
adjustment to light intensity also might be important for picocyanobacteria that were regularly
present in variable quantities in Tanganyika jellyfish. In different individuals, endosymbiotic
picocyanobacteria were morphologically variable and dominated by a particular Lake Biwa type
Cyanobium species, which typically are abundant in the Tanganyika water column. Under light,
some jellyfish even proved to be net primary producers. Nitrogen stable isotopic ratios indicated
that while the free-living cyanobacteria were nitrogen-fixers, the internal picocyanobacteria in
jellyfish obtained their nitrogen predominantly from their host. Stable isotopic ratios of carbon and
nitrogen further suggested copepod zooplankton as the most likely prey for the jellyfish. Lake
Tanganyika jellyfish apparently base their metabolism both on carnivorous and herbivorous diets,
with possible internal cycling of nutrients; however, the role of picocyanobacteria gardening for the
ecosystem of Lake Tanganyika and its jellyfish requires quantification.
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Introduction
Lake Tanganyika is the second deepest and oldest lake on the earth. Its numerous endemic biota
reflect the history of about ten million years under rather stable conditions prevailing near the
equator (Tiercelin & Mondeguer, 1990; Cohen et al., 1993). The total biodiversity of the lake, one
of the highest in the world (Coulter, 1994), is largely confined to the littoral zone. Its pelagic
biodiversity, by contrast, is low and leads to a rather simple food web. In Lake Tanganyika, a
hydromedusa, Limnocnida tanganyicae Böhm, 1883 (Hydrozoa, Limnomedusae), is a prominent
component in zooplankton (Sarvala et al., 1999; Langenberg et al., 2008). Of the two most common
freshwater jellyfish genera, Craspedacusta, has colonized all continents, while Limnocnida is
restricted to Asian and African tropics and subtropics (Dumont, 1994a; Jankowski, 2001). In Africa,
L. tanganyicae seems to be the only species (Goy, 1977). In Lake Tanganyika, the medusa stage is
predominant and in fact, the tiny (< 0.5 mm) hydroid stage of the hydromedusa was discovered later
because of its small size and cryptic life style (Bouillon, 1954).
The ecology of freshwater jellyfish is poorly known and their taxonomy is still debated. All
non-parasitic Cnidaria are predators, but due to the absence of knowledge of their food and feeding,
the trophic position of freshwater jellyfish remains obscure (Rayner & Appleton, 1989; Dumont,
1994b). In Lake Tanganyika, jellyfish up to 25 mm diameter are abundant (Kurki et al., 1999), and
their biomass is of the same order as that of predatory crustacean zooplankton (Sarvala et al., 1999).
The predators of freshwater jellyfish are unknown (Dumont, 1994a), but it has been
hypothesized, albeit contradicted by the observations of Viherluoto (1999), that they might be
consumed by benthic decapods. There is no evidence that pelagic fish feed on them (Coulter, 1991).
Consequently, Limnocnida may be considered as a dead end in the food web.
Looking L. tanganyicae on a high resolution epifluorescence microscope during a cruise in
1995?, surprisingly showed the abundance of picocyanobacteria. This led us to hypothesize that
these animals might be able to garden picocyanobacteria and partly base their metabolism on that.
To better understand the role of possible gardening by L. tanganyicae in Lake Tanganyika, we
studied several aspects of its ecology during several expeditions covering the whole lake, utilizing
field abundance data, laboratory experiments, as well as genetic and stable isotope analyses.
Materials and methods
This study was performed during 1994-2001. To estimate jellyfish biomass, a regression was
established between the umbrella diameter, dry mass (DM), and ash free dry mass (AFDM) of
medusae. Individuals were selected over the range of sizes. After measurement of the umbrella
diameters, individuals were dried on pre-weighed aluminium foil cups. These samples were taken to
Finland, dried again at 60oC, and weighed on a Cahn Electrobalance. AFDM was obtained by
difference from DM after re-weighing following combustion at 500°C.
In the pelagic waters off Kigoma, Tanzania (4°51.00’S, 29°35.00’E), quantitative samples
of L. tanganyicae medusae were taken at 10 m vertical hauls from 120 m to the surface using a
500-µm mesh closing net. In the vicinity of Mpulungu, Zambia (08°43.98’S, 31°02.43’E), jellyfish
bloom samples were taken with a 7-l tube sampler (Limnos Ltd, Finland) and a PVC 10-l collector
was used for surface sampling. Qualitative epifluorescence microscopic observations were made of
medusae collected throughout the lake. To avoid possible damage to jellyfish from excessive light,
individuals for the experiments were collected at dusk when they ascended to the surface.
Generally, single large animals were caught by hand-scooping into 0.5 liter beaker from the surface
or with a tube water sampler from slightly deeper layers. In 1998, jellyfish also were collected at
night or in dim light by divers in < 2 m water depth using 50-mm-diameter acrylic tubes with 300µm-mesh plankton netting covering one end. When a medusa was captured in the tube, the open
end was closed with a stopper and immediately taken to the laboratory aboard the research vessel.
In some cases, the umbrella diameters of animals were measured with the aid of a dissecting
microscope. The presence of protozoans inside the animals also was recorded. The occurrence of
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internal algae was checked with an epifluorescence microscope (Nikon Optiphot) at 1250x
magnification. Eukaryotic algae were observed with blue excitation and prokaryotic
picocyanobacteria with green excitation.
To investigate the effect of UV light on jellyfish survival, an experiment was conducted on
board the R/V Tanganyika Explorer. Twelve or 13 animals were placed in each of three 2-l quartz
bottles, which were put in a water bath in an open, white polystyrene box. One bottle was exposed
to direct sunlight, another was kept under a UV-protected polyethylene film, and one wrapped in
aluminium foil was used as the dark control. Water temperature was kept similar to ambient by
pumping lake water through the box. During the experiment (beginning at 11:45), spectral sunlight
radiation was measured every 15 min with a Macam SR 991 spectroradiometer (planar cosine light
collector). Spectral penetration of light into water of Lake Tanganyika was also measured using a 4m quartz light cable. Without the UV-protected polyethylene film, measurable radiation was
observed down to 300 nm wavelength; with the film, the limit was about 350 nm. At wavelengths
longer than 400 nm, the film absorbed ca. 1/3 of the radiation. Medusae pulsing their swimming
umbrella were considered alive and were counted every 10 min. In the dark bottle, animals were
counted only at the end of the experiment. To avoid even short exposure to high UV radiation, the
bottle under the UV-screen was counted only once before the end of the experiment; the bottle was
placed in a black cotton bag and transferred to the laboratory of the ship for counting. The
experiment was terminated when all animals had died in the bottle kept under direct sunlight. We
hypothesized that UV radiation affects L. tanganyicae and therefore they avoid surface water in
bright light.Fluorescent beads (Polysciences Inc.) were used to qualitatively study the ingestion of
picoplankton-sized organisms. To remove possible bead aggregations, a small volume of stock
suspension of beads was filtered through a 5-µm Nuclepore filter. The final concentration of beads
in lake water offered to jellyfish in a 50-ml water bottle was adjusted roughly to the same density as
picoplankton abundance in lake water (105 cells ml-1).
Bacterial composition of jellyfish was studied from 11 large (> 10 mm) individuals sampled
during December 2001 from the lake surface (0-2 m) off Kigoma harbor at dusk and then stored in
70% ethanol. Water samples (1 liter) were taken with a Limnos sampler at the same time at 10-m
depth intervals from the surface to 60 m. For DNA analyses, 0.5 l of water was screened through
50-µm-mesh plankton netting and then filtered onto Filtropur acetylacetate filter units (0.2- m pore
size). Bacterial DNA extractions were performed using the combined enzymatic and bead-beating
method, and the length heterogeneity-PCR (LH-PCR) targeted V1-V3 variable regions of the 16S
rRNA (area 8-534, Escherichia coli numbering), as described by Tiirola et al. (2002a). Direct
sequencing of the heterogeneous PCR products was performed bi-directionally using the ABI
BigDye kit and ABI 3100 DNA sequencer (Applied Biosystems). Sequences were compared
against the EMBL database using the BLAST algorithm (Altschul et al., 1997). A bootstrapped
neighbor-joining tree was calculated using Jukes-Cantor correction with the MEGA 4 software.
Reference sequences for inferring the tree were the following (from top to bottom in the tree):
AF330249, DQ463712 (Lake Tanganyika clone), AF330250, AF448063, AF216955, AF317074,
AF330247, AB015058, AF330252, AF001477, AY151249, AF098370, AF330251, AY172819,
AY172811, AY172810, AY172801 AF001479, AY172833, AF245618, S000388727, AF053398,
S000628344, and AY946243.
To measure oxygen consumption, jellyfish were transferred individually into 50-ml bottles
filled with lake water and sealed with round, glass stoppers. Bottles with the same water, but
without a medusa, served as controls. After filling, oxygen concentration was measured and the
bottles were placed in an incubator. Some of the bottles were darkened with aluminium foil. In the
incubator, the bottles were kept under an illumination of 511 µ mol m-2 s-1 supplied by 6 daylight
type fluorescent tubes. Water temperature was maintained within 1°C of the lake temperature
(around 27°C) by pumping water from the lake through the incubator. Temperature was monitored
with a thermometer during the oxygen measurements. Oxygen concentration was measured with an
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YSI BOD bottle probe with a stirrer at the upper part of the bottle. It was placed in the bottle and
mixing was kept on for 30 s before reading the value. After the measurement, the bottle was restoppered and returned to the incubator. Oxygen consumption by jellyfish was calculated as the
difference between the initial and final concentrations taking into account the incubation time and
the bottle volume. Differences in control bottles were subtracted from the results of bottles with
medusae.
In one oxygen production/consumption experiment, lake water was amended with
autoclaved stock solutions of KH2PO and NH4Cl to final concentrations of 0.8 µmol P l-1 and 12.5
µ mol N l-1, roughly in accordance with the highest concentrations (phosphate 0.1-0.6 µmol, nitrate
1.6-3.7 µmol) reported by De Wever et al. (2008a) for the epilimnion of Lake Tanganyika.
Ammonium nitrogen was used because algae preferentially take up ammonium and jellyfish excrete
ammonium. NH4-N is typically very low (0-0.05 g m-3) down to roughly 100 m depth in the lake
(Plisnier et al., 1999). We hypothesized that nutrients released from the digestion of invertebrate
food of jellyfish are sufficient for endosymbiotic picocyanobacteria so that external nutrients do not
affect their photosynthesis.
To clarify the trophic position of the jellyfish, samples for stable carbon and nitrogen
isotope determinations were collected off Kigoma (4°51’S, 29°35’E), in late November to early
December 2001. Jellyfish were sampled on 4-10 December 2001 either with vertical net hauls (100or 250-µm mesh) from 120 m to the surface (or from 50 m after sunset), or by scooping individual
jellyfish from surface water. In the latter case, the abundance of associated picoplankton was
estimated visually by color, and the jellyfish were sorted into five groups accordingly (colorless =
no or very few picoplankton; slight pink hue = few picoplankton; medium pink hue = picoplankton
moderately abundant; entire jellyfish intensely pink = picoplankton very abundant overall; and pink
color only around the marginal ring of the jellyfish). The correlation between jellyfish color and
abundance of internal picoplankton was confirmed with the epifluorescent microscope. Jellyfish
were stored in carbon- and nitrogen-free alkaline Lugol’s iodine. Later, medusae were rinsed with
deionized water and placed in tin cups as groups of small, similar individuals or as pieces of large
individuals (total sample dry mass 1-4 mg). The cups were sealed, dried at 60ºC, and sent for
analysis by an Europa Scientific Hydra 20/20 isotope ratio mass spectrometer at the Stable Isotope
Facility, University of California-Davis, California, U.S.A.. The results are given using the
notation, where = [(Rsample/Rreference) 1] × 1000, expressed in units per thousand (‰), and where
R = 13C/12C or 15N/14N. Reference materials were PeeDee belemnite for carbon and atmospheric N2
for nitrogen.
Zooplankton, shrimps, and fish larvae from the same net hauls were fixed with carbon- and
nitrogen-free alkaline Lugol’s iodine immediately after sampling and later sorted by species and
size groups in the laboratory. After rinsing with deionized water, groups of 1 to approximately 3000
individuals were transferred to tin cups, sealed, dried, weighed, and sent for stable isotope analysis.
Water was sampled from different depths (0-100 m) with a tube sampler (Limnos Ltd, Finland)
from 19 November-10 December 2001. The samples (4-20 l) were pre-screened through 50-µmmesh netting to remove zooplankton and large phytoplankton, and the filtrates were then filtered
through pre-combusted (at 500ºC overnight) glass fibre filters (Whatman) using a low vacuum (< 20
kPa), first through a GF/D filter (median pore size 2.8 µm, which retained mainly eukaryotic nanoand microplankton) and then through a GF/F filter (median pore size 0.7 µm, which retained mainly
picocyano- and heterotrophic bacteria). Larger phytoplankton (mainly cyanobacteria) was collected
on 6-10 December 2001 in net hauls with 50-µ m mesh from 5-10 m depth to the surface, which
then were concentrated on GF/D filters. The filters were put on pre-combusted aluminium foil and
dried at 60ºC. In Finland, the dried filters were weighed and 16-18 (GF/D) or 10 (GF/F) 3-mmdiameter subsample discs were punctured from the filters and placed in pre-weighed tin cups,
weighed, and sent for stable isotope analysis.
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The samples of the most important pelagic planktivore, the clupeid fish, Stolothrissa
tanganicae Regan, were obtained on 22 and 26 November 2001 directly from the fishermen as they
came ashore. The fish were measured for length and a tissue sample of the dorsal white muscle was
cut from behind the dorsal fin. The tissue samples were put on aluminium foil and dried in an oven
at 60ºC. In Finland, the tissue samples were ground to a fine powder and ca. 0.8 mg from each
sample was transferred into pre-weighed tin cups and sent for stable isotope determinations.
Linear mixing models were applied to the isotope signatures to quantify the contributions of
potential food sources to the diet of the jellyfish (program IsoSource; Phillips & Gregg, 2003).
Isotope signatures were adjusted for the stepwise enrichment in the heavier isotopes from one
trophic level to the next, using steps of 0.5 and 1‰ for 13C (France & Peters, 1997), and 2 and 3.4
‰ for 15N (McCutchan et al., 2003).
Results
Although Limnocnida tanganyicae are so large that they easily attract visual attention, their
individual biomasses were low, with AFDM ca. 2 mg for a 12-mm-diameter medusa (Fig. 1.).
During several cruises, L. tanganyicae medusae were found at the surface in locally high densities.
In early September 1995, we examined their detailed horizontal and vertical distributions by
sampling a jellyfish bloom covering nine locations near Mpulungu in the southern basin of Lake
Tanganyika (Fig. 2)., Jellyfish density was roughly 3000 ind m-3 nearest to the coast, but it was an
order of magnitude lower at more than 15 km offshore.
Vertical day and night distributions of L. tanganyicae were studied in April 1998 off
Kigoma, when the epilimnion was less than 15 m thick (Fig. 3). Jellyfish were present throughout
the oxygenated water column to approximately 100 m deep. Vertical distributions of medusa
abundances near noon and midnight both were maximum within the 10-20 m zone; however, at
night their median depth of occurrence was 13 m, while at noon it was deeper at 21 m. The
difference between day and night vertical distributions was highly significant (Smirnov test, D =
0.219, p < 0.001, n1 = 261, n2 = 367). Small medusae were evenly distributed but large (> 10 mm
diameter) ones more frequently occurred in the upper 30 m. Visual observations also showed that,
at sunset, jellyfish appeared near the surface when photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) above
water reached ca. 200 µmol m-2 s-1 (roughly 20% of the daytime average; Sarvala et al. 1999) and
large individuals arrived first. During daytime, medusae were observed only occasionally near the
surface. Although they were often alive, in agreement with Dumont (1994), when used in the
experiments they did not survive long, suggesting that they were somehow damaged.
Because UV radiation can be damaging in clear water lakes, such as Tanganyika, we studied
whether UV might explain the absence of or damage to L. tanganyicae . The most harmful UV-B
radiation was restricted to the top 5 m of the water column (Fig. 4). In a survival experiment
performed near solar noon on the deck of the research vessel, the accumulation of UV radiation
developed linearly (Fig. 4). Under a UV-screen, UV-B radiation (290-320 nm) was virtually
eliminated. UV-A radiation was detectable at wavelengths of 350-400 nm, but the experiment was
too short to cause significant mortality of jellyfish. By contrast, jellyfish exposed to natural solar
radiation died within one hour (Fig. 5).
Observations with an epifluorescent microscope of living L. tanganyicae without any
staining only occasionally showed cells that fluoresced under blue excitation, and only in the gut
region. By contrast, under green excitation, the field of view was often full of generally < 1-µmdiameter orange fluorescing cells, which indicated that they contained phycoerythrine pigment of
picocyanobacteria. Some of the cells moved freely in the body fluid of the jellyfish and some were
stationary. Often it was difficult to judge whether stationary cells were on surface or inside the
jellyfish. Sometimes picocyanobacteria were in different types of colonies (Fig. 6). Generally, the
cells were globular or very short rods. When the colonies were felt-like, the picocyanobacteria were
rods arranged in filaments and the jellyfish had a pink color visible at distance in the lake. Although
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picocyanobacteria were nearly always present in jellyfish caught during all expeditions, their
abundance differed remarkably among individuals. A sample collected by net from the entire 100-m
water column off Kigoma contained about 20% of 123 medusae with so many picocyanobacteria
that their enumeration at 1250x magnification was impossible; however, 56% of the medusae had
only scattered single cells or small groups of picocyanobacteria.
In addition to picocyanobacteria, around the gut of 21% of 705 jellyfish we found wheellike Trichodina type ciliates, similar to those found for Craspedacusta sowerbyi (Lankester) by
Green (1998). When fluorescent beads 0.2-2 µm-diameter were offered, ciliates ingested large
numbers of all bead sizes, indicating that they can consume both bacteria and picocyanobacteria;
however, we found no uptake of beads by jellyfish.
Dozens of individually-caught jellyfish observed immediately by microscopy never had
zooplankton in their guts. In contrast, jellyfish inspected immediately after collection by plankton
net had immobilized copepods in the corners at the bottom of the gut, which we believe were caught
in the concentrated sample.
LH-PCR analysis of the 16S rRNA genes showed that a single LH-PCR fragment size (470
bp) was present in all jellyfish samples (Fig. 7). This fragment was highly dominant, covering > 6090% of the total fragment intensity in 7 out of the 11 studied jellyfish. Picocyanobacterial
biomarker (470 bp) of jellyfish also was very abundant in the epilimnion of Lake Tanganyika,
contributing up to 55% of the bacterial abundance at 0-10 m sampling depth (Fig. 8). Another
fragment size (472 bp), probably belonging to another picocyanobacterial group, was > 15% of the
bacterial abundance in the water (0-50 m), but was completely absent from jellyfish. This indicates
that the microbial diversity of the jellyfish did not mirror the diversity of the environment.
Five of the 16S rRNA gene PCR products of the jellyfish (numbers 1-5) were subjected to
bi-directional sequencing, which revealed that the consensus sequences were 100% identical (387
bp overlap). The BLAST search of all available nucleotide sequences revealed that this sequence
was identical to the cyanobacterial sequence TK-SE6 (EMBL accession number DQ463712, length
1432 bp) dominating the oxic epilimnion of Lake Tanganyika (De Wever et al. 2008b) and to
sequences obtained from the Chinese MiYu reservoir water (GU305743) and freshwater lakes
(GU323646, GU323613, and GU323608). Similar sequences (99% identity) were obtained from
Synechococcus sp. strains isolated from tropical and boreal freshwater environments, such as lakes
Biwa (strain BS2, HM346183), Taihu (strain LBG2, AF330249), and Tuusulanjärvi (strain
0tu30s01, AM259220), as well as from marine environments (strain CCMP839, AY946244; strain
KORDI-28, FJ497720). In the cluster analysis, we used the longer Lake Tanganyika sequence
(DQ463712) to reveal the detailed phylogenetic affiliation of the endosymbiont in comparison to
well-established picocyanobacterial clusters (Fig. 9). Lake Tanganyika type sequence clustered with
the Lake Biwa strains, which form the freshwater picocyanobacteria group E designated by Crosbie
et al. (2003). This cluster contains strains recently re-classified from Synechococcus to Cyanobium,
and their closest described species is Cyanobium gracile. One of the other jellyfish (#10) had a high
dominance of the LH-PCR peak 522 bp. The sequence of this peak indicated the dominance of
betaproteobacterial heterotroph closest to the type strain of Vogesella indigofera (strain ATCC
19706T, AB021385, 95% identity).
The potential role of picocyanobacteria in the metabolism of the jellyfish-picocyanobacteria
community was examined by experiments. In the first light incubation experiment, jellyfish > 10
mm in diameter sometimes showed net oxygen production (Fig. 10). In subsequent experiments, we
studied how oxygen consumption/production would develop when the same jellyfish were kept
sequentially in light and dark. The results corroborated our initial finding, specifically, that under
light, oxygen consumption decreased or even switched to production (Fig. 11). The same trend was
observed in a similar experiment, although the jellyfish generally were net oxygen consumers (Fig.
12). When inorganic nutrients were added late in the light phase of the experiment, however, three
of four individuals had remarkably increased oxygen production. Finally, after the light was
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switched off, no jellyfish produced oxygen. These results suggested high variation among
individuals, both in consumption and production of oxygen by jellyfish. Oxygen consumption
increased in relation to the diameter of jellyfish in the dark (Fig. 13); however, in light there was no
clear trend, and oxygen production rates in the smallest size classes were surprisingly high.
The stable carbon isotope signatures of L. tanganyicae were similar to those of crustacean
zooplankton and fish larvae, but lower than in big shrimps or in the planktivorous clupeid fish
Stolothrissa tanganicae, slightly higher than in pico-, nano-, and microphytoplankton, or copepod
nauplii, and much higher than in small shrimps or in the net phytoplankton mainly consisting of
cyanobacteria (Fig. 14). The nitrogen signatures of L. tanganyicae were similar to those of adult
Stolothrissa tanganicae, but higher than those of all other groups except big shrimps. Neither the
carbon nor nitrogen isotope signatures of L. tanganyicae were significantly affected by the
abundance of internal picocyanobacteria (ANOVA, P = 0.34 for carbon, P = 0.90 for nitrogen, n =
11).
Isotope mixing models produced broad distributions of calculated diet proportions, which
were sensitive to the choice and grouping of potential food sources, as well as to the trophic step
adjustment. The diffuse results were consistent with the fact that the isotope polygon defined by the
potential food sources was rather narrow (Fig. 14). No feasible solutions were obtained with a
nitrogen step of 3.4‰; however, use of steps of 0.5‰ for carbon and 2.0‰ for nitrogen, achieved
isotope mass balance for numerous combinations. When all major groups except adult and larval
fish were included as potential food sources for L. tanganyicae , the calculated contributions of all
sources remained variable and low (all included zero contributions); the 1-99th percentiles varied
from 0-18 to 0-46%, with picocyanobacteria, Tropocyclops tenellus (Sars), Tropodiaptomus simplex
(Sars), and copepod nauplii showing slightly higher maximum values than other groups. Net
phytoplankton, nano-, and microplankton, as well as small shrimps, always showed low
contributions. The results remained qualitatively similar if cyclopoid or all copepod adults and
copepodids were one group, but the importance of copepods and picocyanobacteria then became
more pronounced (1-99th percentiles 0-58 and 0-46%, respectively). In such cases, the big shrimps
appeared as a moderately important diet component (1-99th percentiles 14-38%), provided that
phytoplankton with low carbon and nitrogen signatures was simultaneously consumed at a higher
extent. Similarly, mixtures of several food sources also could include fish larvae. If copepod nauplii
were grouped with adults and copepodids, no feasible solutions were found. The most clear-cut
model solution was obtained when all phytoplankton groups, grouped cyclopoid adults and
copepodids, Tropodiaptomus, copepod nauplii, and small shrimps were included as potential food
sources. The highest contributions then were shown by cyclopoids, Tropodiaptomus, copepod
nauplii, and picocyanobacteria (1-99th percentiles 2-62, 24-56, 0-40, and 0-30%, respectively).
Discussion
Our results verified that Limnocnida tanganyicae medusae have very low dry and ash-free biomass
relative to their diameter, and the regression between diameter and dry mass was similar to that for
Craspedacusta sowerbii (Jankowski, 2000). Jellyfish are an interesting product of evolution which,
during the 600 million years of their existence, may have expanded their prey catching machinery
as large as possible with minimum material cost.
Kurki et al. (1999) sampled monthly for two years at three sites and found typical
abundances of L. tanganyicae between 10 and 100 ind m-3 in the upper 100 m, with the highest
abundances (> 500 ind m-3) in the northern part of Lake Tanganyika. By contrast, four lake-wide
cruises indicated highest abundances in the southern basin (Kurki, 1998). In our study, the observed
maximal abundances were up to 5 to 6 times higher than those observed by Kurki et al. (1999), and
even higher concentrations were recorded in December 1994 in surface waters at Kigoma (personal
observations). It seems clear that high abundances of jellyfish are temporally and spatially variable
(Kurki et al., 1999; Langenberg et al., 2008). The factors behind high density blooms are poorly
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known. The large bloom in this study appeared in the southern basin at the end of the windy
upwelling season (Coulter & Spigel, 1991), during a transition from a 3-month period of increased
availability of nutrients and primary production in cool, well-mixed waters to warmer water,
increased epilimnetic stratification, and oligotrophy (Langenberg et al., 2003). Although the blooms
generally seem regionally limited, this bloom covered a large area of ca. 400 km2. The jellyfish
blooms interfere with the fishery because nearby fishing communities in Zambia and Tanzania must
stop fishing for the duration of the bloom (I. Kimirei, Tanzanian Fisheries Research Institute,
personal communication).
UV-radiation, particularly UV-B, is harmful to zooplankton (e.g., Williamson, 1995;
Hylander & Hansson, 2010). Vulnerability to radiation differs among different aquatic organisms
(Rhode et al., 2001) and environments, but there is no information about UV-B radiation effects on
freshwater jellyfish. Although L. tanganyicae was present throughout the whole water column,
their abundance was clearly highest in the epilimnion. Similar to marine jellyfish (Schuyler &
Sullivan, 1997), L. tanganyicae actively avoided water layers with high illumination. This
avoidance, combined with the results of our light incubation experiment (Fig. 5) and the fact that
animals found near the surface at daytime did not survive long, suggests that daytime UV-B
radiation is harmful to these highly transparent L. tanganyicae jellyfish. UV-B radiation started to
cause mortality of copepods at doses of ca. 0.1 W m-2 (Zagarese et al., 1997), which suggests that in
the upper 3-5 m of the water column, UV-B is excessive for zooplankton in Lake Tanganyika. In
fact, at high radiation levels prevailing around noon at the surface, our experimental results show
clear harmful effects of UV-B radiation on L. tanganyicae jellyfish (Fig. 5).Thus, lower exposures
over longer periods of time are needed for more realistic estimates of the effect. It seems probable
that vertical migration of L. tanganyicae reflects avoidance of UV radiation in the upper
epilimnion, although other factors may be involved as well.
The LH-PCR results indicated that bacterial groups in jellyfish did not match the diversity in
the surrounding water. Instead, individual jellyfish had their own bacterial communities more or
less dominated by a certain biomarker size, which also was at a maximum in the water column at 10
m depth. Because several cyanobacterial and alphaproteobacterial genera have the same LH-PCR
size (Tiirola et al., 2003), further sequencing was needed to identify the microbes represented by the
biomarker. All the sequenced jellyfish carried certain Cyanobium-type picocyanobacteria. In other
than pathogenic situations (e.g., Rantakokko-Jalava et al., 2000; Tiirola et al., 2002b), it is unusual
for a PCR fragment from environmental samples amplified by universal bacterial primers to be
directly sequenced without a cloning step. This is usually possible only if some rRNA gene
template contributes to > 60-70% of all templates (Tiirola et al., unpublished). The prevailing 16S
rRNA sequence of the jellyfish Cyanobium belonged to the same taxonomic unit that predominates
in Lake Tanganyika (De Wever et al., 2008b). The characteristic Cyanobium sp. sequence belonged
to the Lake Biwa-type freshwater cluster, but it also was closely related to sequences obtained from
both freshwater and marine samples ranging from tropical to boreal environments, showing the
cosmopolitan nature of the cluster (see Crosbie et al., 2003).
Among marine invertebrates, including jellyfish (e.g., Hofmann & Kremer, 1981; Hamner et
al., 1982; Muscatine & Marian, 1982; Kremer et al., 1990), endosymbiotic algae are rather common
including algae from at least five different classes and animal hosts ranging from protozoans to
tunicates (e.g., Trench, 1993). By contrast, endosymbiotic cyanobacteria seem to be less common.
Nevertheless, they have been found in invertebrates other than L. tanganyicae medusae. Erwin &
Thacker (2008) found Synechococcus-type cyanobacteria in marine poriferans, while Lesser et al.
(2004) found endosymbiotic cyanobacteria to coexist with the symbiotic dinoflagellates
(zooxanthellae) in a coral and to express the nitrogen-fixing enzyme, nitrogenase. The presence of
this prokaryotic symbiont in a nitrogen-limited zooxanthellate coral suggests that nitrogen fixation
may be an important source of that limiting element for the symbiotic association.
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Jellyfish capture photosynthetic organisms from water (Rumpho et al., 2011) and form a
symbiotic association with them. Carbohydrates and low molecular weight lipids are produced for
the host, which probably return nutrients to the microorganisms. Thus, each generation has to
acquire its photosynthetic partner from the surrounding environment. The picocyanobacteria that
are predominant in L. tanganyicae medusae, are very abundant in Lake Tanganyika water (Vuorio
et al., 2003; De Wever et al., 2008b; Stenuite et al., 2009). Stenuite et al. (2009) estimated that
autotrophic picoplankton with ‘Synechococcus-type pigment’ accounted for 41-99% of the total
phytoplankton biomass. Boulenger (1911) suggested that the typical function of the stomach, which
is reduced in L. tanganyicae , is accomplished by the canal system, and that the medusae live upon
unicellular algae and protozoa driven into the radial canals. Although we saw picocyanobacteria
flowing in the canals, ingestion of pico-sized particles was not confirmed by uptake of fluorescent
beads, which suggests an endosymbiotic association of the microbiota inside the jellyfish.
A well-known example of jellyfish with endosymbiotic algae is the scyphozoanMastigias
sp., which relies up to 100% on photosynthesis of endosymbiotic algae and could contribute
substantially (16%) to primary production of Eil Malk Jellyfish Lake (McCloskey et al., 1994).
Mastigias sp. medusae even orient their umbrella to obtain optimum illumination (Hamner et al.,
1982). The vertical migration of L. tanganyicae medusae also could provide improved growth
conditions for its picocyanobacteria in Lake Tanganyika. If the medusae adjust their vertical
position according to the optimum illumination, they could maximize photosynthesis of their
endosymbionts. This possibility seems plausible because jellyfish arrive at the surface at dusk too
early when light intensity is too high to capture vertically migrating zooplankton. Previous
sampling was too coarse to reveal layers of jellyfish at 100-200 µmol m-2 s-2 PAR illumination
throughout the day, but the daytime vertical distribution of large individuals supports this
speculation.
In low-nutrient environments, heterotrophic-autotrophic associations of organisms offer a
competitive advantage through the mutual transfer of otherwise limiting resources (Yellowlees et
al., 2008). The results of our oxygen consumption/production experiment with jellyfish and
additional nutrients suggest that Lake Tanganyika jellyfish can have net nutrient uptake similar to
that of other jellyfish (Muscatine & Marian, 1982; Pitt et al., 2005; Todd et al., 2006). Thus, L.
tanganyicae jellyfish may acquire key nutrients both from inorganic pool of water and from their
prey; however, if they have a high phosphorus level, similar to Craspedacusta sowerbii (Jankowski,
2000), then while fulfilling their phosphorus requirements, the medusae obtain excess nitrogen
which has to be excreted.
Because many photosynthetic organisms can store nutrients, internal picocyanobacteria
might be able to effectively harvest nutrients released by jellyfish so that the organisms form a
closed semiautonomous micro-ecosystem where nutrients (at least nitrogen) are recycled internally
(Pitt et al., 2009), as was supported by our stable isotope results. The nitrogen signature of the
jellyfish was relatively high and independent of the abundance of internal picocyanobacteria.
Because the concurrent free-living picocyanobacteria showed low nitrogen signatures indicative of
nitrogen fixation (Vuorio et al., 2006) and thus a shortage of inorganic nitrogen in the environment,
the internal picocyanobacteria most likely obtained their nitrogen from L. tanganyicae jellyfish.
The oxygen production of endosymbiotic algae may be so high that it exceeds the oxygen
consumption of its host (Kremer et al., 1990). Factors affecting their oxygen production are similar
to those of free-living algae (Muscatine & Marian, 1982). Contrary to our results showing high
variation in L. tanganyicae (Fig. 13), in Linuche uniquiculata medusae (Kremer et al., 1990),
oxygen production depended linearly on the size of the medusa, on light intensity, and on the
behavior of jellyfish containing endosymbiotic algae (Muscatine & Marian, 1982). Although we
found that L. tanganyicae jellyfish sometimes can be net producers, the high variation of the
abundance of associated picocyanobacteria complicates understanding their role in jellyfish
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metabolism, as well as in the open water ecosystem. The observed picocyanobacteria abundance in
the medusae may vary according to their nutritional status. When the status is poor, jellyfish may
deplete the picocyanobacteria, while in the opposite case, picocyanobacteria flourish. Thus, both
feeding and life histories may affect the picocyanobacteria abundance. Variation in
picocyanobacteria abundance was high even among large animals collected from the surface.
In Eil Malk Jellyfish Lake, Mastigias sp. medusae maximized their exposure to inorganic
nutrients by swimming 15 m to the chemocline at night (Muscatine & Marian, 1982). It might be
possible that such migration to the darker part of the water column also contributes to variation in
the abundance of picocyanobacteria. Although the distance to the chemocline in Lake Tanganyika is
roughly 100 m, L. tanganyicae may harvest nutrients there. The results of our nutrient addition
experiment suggest that nutrients from digested prey are not always sufficient. If so, photosynthesis
by picocyanobacteria may not be a steady source of food but photosynthesis by picocyanobacteria
would extend the resources obtained from prey over a longer duration. As for algae in Mastigias sp.
jellyfish (Muscatine et al., 1986), there is no direct evidence of digestion of picocyanobacteria by L.
tanganyicae jellyfish. They may obtain photosynthetic products directly through the cell walls of
the picocyanobacteria as in the coral-zooxanthellae relationship (Lesser et al., 2004; Woolridge,
2010).
The stable isotope results helped to clarify the trophic position of L. tanganyicae in the
Lake Tanganyika food web. The isotope composition of an organism reflects its diet, with a
stepwise enrichment in the heavier isotopes from one trophic level to the next. Enrichment in 13C is
small (0 –1‰), permitting identification of carbon sources (France & Peters, 1997), while the
enrichment in 15N is higher (2–4 ‰; empirical average 3.4‰), allowing estimation of the trophic
position of consumers (McCutchan et al., 2003). In the pelagic food web of Lake Tanganyika, the
15
N enrichment per trophic step seems to be rather low, around 2‰ (Sarvala et al., 2003), as is
common for ammonotelic freshwater organisms (Vanderklift & Ponsard, 2003). The similarity of
carbon signatures and the mean difference of 1.8‰ in nitrogen signatures between the jellyfish and
the copepodid and adult copepods are consistent with feeding on mixed copepods by the jellyfish,
which was supported by the results of the mixing model application. The mixing model results
indicated that jellyfish also might feed on picocyanobacteria, but that feeding on small shrimps was
unlikely. Although feeding on big shrimps in combination with low-signature phytoplankton could
balance the isotope equilibrium, the big shrimps are too scarce in the lake (Bosma et al., 1998) to be
a realistic food source for the jellyfish. Thus, the mixing model can be used only to quantify the
contributions of known food items in the diet, but not used to identify the true diet components. In
general, food items with strong isotopic signatures in opposite directions, they appear important in
the calculated mixture whether or not they are actually eaten and may conceal the importance of
items with moderate signatures.
It was suggested that L. tanganyicae fed on fish eggs (Dumont, 1994b), but on the basis of
stable isotope signatures, it is unlikely that fish formed substantial portions of the diet. The nitrogen
signature of the jellyfish was only 1.3‰ higher than that of fish larvae and did not differ from the
signature in adult Stolothrissa (Fig. 14). The nitrogen signature of fish eggs is normally very close
to that of the female body; thus, jellyfish cannot have been feeding on fish eggs to any significant
extent. The mixing model did show that some isotopically-feasible diet combinations could include
fish larvae. During five lake-wide cruises in Lake Tanganyika in 1995-1998, abundances of fish
larvae and eggs were one or two magnitudes lower than jellyfish, shrimps, and copepods (Bosma et
al., 1998); therefore, ichthyoplankton probably would have been only occasional prey of the
jellyfish that could not be detected by the isotopic signatures.
Jellyfish can be powerful modifiers of the zooplankton community. In River Yamuna, India
Limnocnida indica medusae removed cladocerans (Moina sp.), as well as the rotifer Keratella sp.
from zooplankton; however, some rotifers (Asplanchna sp. and Brachionus sp.) and some copepods
were not affected (Sharma & Chakrabarti, 2000). Craspedacusta sowerbii medusae consume
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zooplankton up to 2 mm (Dodson & Cooper, 1983; Jankowski et al., 2005; Smith & Alexander Jr.,
2008; Stefani et al., 2010). Thus, L. tanganyicae jellyfish also may exert strong influence on
zooplankton particularly during blooms in Lake Tanganyika. More information on the feeding of L.
tanganyicae on different components of zooplankton is needed to better understand its trophic role
in Lake Tanganyika.
Limnocnida tanganyicae medusae are a prominent component in the open water ecosystem
of Lake Tanganyika with many metabolic and behavioral adaptations. Primarily, the medusae are
likely predators of zooplankton and probably also can garden photosynthetic picocyanobacteria,
which enables their survival in the oligotrophic conditions of Lake Tanganyika. This study provides
novel insights into the ecology of freshwater jellyfish.
Acknowledgments
This study was a part of the FAO/FINNIDA Lake Tanganyika Research Project GCP/RAF/271/FIN
“Research for the Management of the Fisheries on Lake Tanganyika (LTR)”. Additional funding
was received from the Academy of Finland (grants 44130, 52271 and 201414), the University of
Turku Foundation and the Universities of Turku, Kuopio and Jyväskylä, Finland. We also thank
Jitka Jezberova and David Fewer for commenting the picocyanobacterial systematics, and the
reviewers and editors for their assistance.
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Figure Captions
Fig. 1 Correlation of dry and ash free dry mass of Limnocnida tanganyicae medusae with umbrella
diameter. Dotted line for dry mass of Craspedacusta sowerbii medusae (Jankowski, 2000) is shown
for comparison
Fig. 2 Abundance of Limnocnida tanganyicae medusae in the southern basin of Lake Tanganyika
near the town Mpulungu, Zambia 2-4 September 1995. Numbers 1-9 represent sampling stations
Fig. 3 Abundances (left side lines; day = grey line, night = black line) and mean umbrella diameters
(day = white bars; night = grey bars) with ranges (horizontal lines) of Limnocnida tanganyicae
medusae in the epi- and metalimnion of Lake Tanganyika off Kigoma Harbour during 7 April 1998.
The temperature vs. depth curve is shown at the right
Fig. 4 Penetration of UV-B radiation into water of Lake Tanganyika (April 1998) and cumulative
UV-B radiation during the UV-exposure experiment (Fig. 5) on ship board in January 2001
Fig. 5 Survival of >10-mm-diameter Limnocnida tanganyicae medusae collected off Kigoma
Harbor and kept in darkened, UV-film-covered, and uncovered (sunlight) quartz bottles in a water
bath on ship board in December 2001
Fig. 6 A trichocyst battery (A), filamentous (B) and globular colonies (C) as well as
picocyanobacteria in a tentacle (D) of a Limnocnida tanganyicae medusa
Fig. 7 Diversity of bacteria in 11 Limnocnida tanganyicae jellyfish according to LH-PCR analysis
of the 16S rRNA gene. The biomarker size 470 bp was affiliated to the Cyanobium -type
picocyanobacteria
Fig. 8 Depth distributions of bacteria in Lake Tanganyika water column according to LH-PCR
analysis of the 16S rRNA gene. The gray line shows that the biomarker 470 bp had its relative
maximum at 10 m depth
Fig. 9 A neighbor-joining tree of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the Cyanobium (represented by
clone TK-SE6) dominating in Limnocnida tanganyicae medusae, with reference sequences of nonmarine and marine picocyanobacteria. Terminal branches display strain code and place of isolation
(for Lake Biwa cluster), or the affiliated picocyanobacteria cluster (for strains of other non-marine
clusters), based on the clusters designated by Ernst et al. (2003) and Crosbie et al. (2003). Numbers
at nodes indicate the percent frequency (if >50%) obtained from the bootstrap analysis of 1273 nt
positions of the tree
Fig. 10 Oxygen consumption or production by individual Limnocnida tanganyicae jellyfish kept for
two hours in light and dark bottles at ~27°C during November 1996 off Mpulungu, Zambia.
Medusa diameters ranged from 10 to 20 mm
Fig. 11 Oxygen consumption or production by 7 Limnocnida tanganyicae medusae kept first in
darkness and then in light at ~27°C during November 1996. The bell diameters of medusae ranged
from 10 to 20 mm. Each individual is represented by a uniquely shaded bar
Fig. 12 Oxygen consumption or production at ~27°C of 4 Limnocnida tanganyicae medusae kept
first in darkness, then in light, and finally with additional phosphorus and nitrogen during
November 1996. The bell diameter of medusae ranged from 10 to 20 mm. Different individuals are
represented by differently-shaded bars
Fig. 13 Oxygen consumption or production of Limnocnida tanganyicae medusae in relation to their
size (umbrella diameter) in light (white boxes) and darkness (grey boxes) at ~28°C during March
1998. The box represents the middle interquartile range of 50% of the observed values. The
whiskers show the highest and lowest values, excluding outliers (black dots 1.5-3 box heights;
circles > 3 box heights from the edge of the box). Horizontal lines across the boxes indicate
medians. The numbers denote the number of animals in each size class
Fig. 14 Mean stable isotopic composition (with standard deviations) of Limnocnida tanganyicae
medusae and other major groups of organisms in the plankton of Lake Tanganyika. Numbers of
replicate determinations are in parentheses
17
18
722
723
The figures are also on a separate file sent earlier.
Fig. 1
10
Ash free dry mass (mg)
10
Dry mass (mg)
1
0.1
0.01
4
724
725
8
6
0.1
0.01
log y = 2.39 * logx - 2.45 r2 = 0.96
2
1
log y = 2.46 * logx - 2.62 r2 = 0.95
12
10
2
4
Fig. 2
Jellyfish abundance (Ind. m-3)
0
100
200
1000
3000
2000
0
4
6
8
Depth (m)
9
7
20
1
40
3
2
60
5
80
1
3
4
2
100
7
5
6
120
89
10 km
Mpulungu
140
726
727
Fig. 3
Temperature (oC)
Jellyfish (ind. m-3)
40
30
20
10
24
0
26
25
27
28
0-10
10-20
20-30
Depth (m)
30-40
40-50
50-60
60-70
70-80
Day
Night
80-90
90-100
16
728
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
6
8
10
Umbrella diameter (mm)
Uumbrella diameter (mm)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Umbrella diameter (mm)
18
14
16
12
19
729
Fig. 4
0
20
% of surface UV-B radiation
40
60
80
100
0
1
Cumul. UV-B (kJ m-2)
Depht (m)
2
3
4
5
6
8
6
4
2
0
730
731
20
40
60 80
Time (min)
Fig. 5
Number of alive jellyfish
14
12
10
8
6
in sunlight
4
with UV-film
2
in darkness
0
0
732
733
20
40
60
80
Time (min)
Fig. 6
734
19
100
20
735
Fig. 7
100
Proportion of total (%)
Other fractions
522 bp
80
518 bp
60
512 bp
505 bp
40
499 bp
472 bp
20
470 bp
0
736
737
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Fig. 8
0
20
Proportion in total (%)
40
60
80
100
0
10
Other fractions
522 bp
Depth (m)
20
518 bp
512 bp
30
505 bp
499 bp
40
472 bp
470 bp
50
60
738
739
Fig. 9
740
20
10
11
21
741
Fig. 10
Number of individuals
40
In darkness (n=66)
30
20
10
0
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
10
20
Number of individuals
40
In light (n=48)
30
20
10
0
-30
742
743
-20
-10
0
O 2 (µg h-1 ind.-1)
Fig. 11
10
Oxygen evolution (µg h-1 ind.-1)
13 h in darkness
2 h in light
0
LIGHT ON
-10
-20
744
21
22
745
Fig. 12
746
747
Fig. 13
20
O2 (µg h -1 ind.-1)
10
4
3
14 7
3
4
0
12
6 6
10
14 13
3
0
1
7
2
-10
1
Umbrella diameter (mm)
748
749
Fig. 14
22
18-20
16-18
14-16
12-14
10-12
8-10
6-8
4-6
2-4
-20
23
6
Zooplankton
1
2
3
4
5
5
4
Fish
3
Shrimps
2
Phytoplankton 10 Pico (10)
11 Nano-micro (10)
12 Net (4)
N
15
Limnocnida (15)
Tropodiaptomus (5)
Tropocyclops (4)
Mesocyclops (4)
Copepod nauplii (4)
8
1
.
6
2
6 Larvae (4)
7 Stolothrissa (21)
8 Big (1)
9 Small (10)
10
7
4
3
5
9
1
11
0
12
-1
-2
-3
-30
750
-29
-28
-27
-26
-25
13
-24
-23
-22
C
23
-21