TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence of nitrification associated with globally distributed pelagic jellyfish
AU - Hubot, Nathan D.
AU - Giering, Sarah L. C.
AU - Füssel, Jessika
AU - Robidart, Julie
AU - Birchill, Antony
AU - Stinchcombe, Mark
AU - Dumousseaud, Cynthia
AU - Lucas, Cathy H.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Elena Cerdan Garcia and Joe Jones for their help in sample collection. We also thank Shin-ichi Uye for providing valuable information on the Honjo District Lake. We are grateful to Luke Hirst and the London Aquarium for providing specimen of the jellyfish C. pacifica and access to the aquarium facilities. We extend our gratitude to the captain and crew of the cruise DY090 and to the Discovery Camps of the Regional Graduate Network for Oceanography (RGNO). Lastly, we thank the reviewers and editors for their contribution to the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Limnology and Oceanography published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.
PY - 2021/6/15
Y1 - 2021/6/15
N2 - Often considered detrimental to the environment and human activities, jellyfish blooms are increasing in several coastal regions worldwide. Yet, the overall effect of these outbreaks on ecosystem productivity and structure are not fully understood. Here we provide evidence for a so far unanticipated role of jellyfish in marine nitrogen cycling. Pelagic jellyfish release nitrogen as a metabolic waste product in form of ammonium. Yet, we observed high rates of nitrification (NH4+ → NO3−, 5.7–40.8 nM gWW−1 [wet weight] h−1) associated with the scyphomedusae Aurelia aurita, Chrysaora hysoscella, and Chrysaora pacifica and low rates of incomplete nitrification (NH4+ → NO2−, 1.0–2.8 nM gWW−1 h−1) associated with Chrysaora fulgida, C. hysoscella, and C. pacifica. These observations indicate that microbes living in association with these jellyfish thrive by oxidizing the readily available ammonia to nitrite and nitrate. The four studied species have a large geographic distribution and exhibit frequent population outbreaks. We show that, during such outbreaks, jellyfish-associated release of nitrogen can provide more than 100% of the nitrogen required for primary production. These findings reveal a so far overlooked pathway when assessing pelagic nitrification rates that might be of particular relevance in nitrogen depleted surface waters and at high jellyfish population densities.
AB - Often considered detrimental to the environment and human activities, jellyfish blooms are increasing in several coastal regions worldwide. Yet, the overall effect of these outbreaks on ecosystem productivity and structure are not fully understood. Here we provide evidence for a so far unanticipated role of jellyfish in marine nitrogen cycling. Pelagic jellyfish release nitrogen as a metabolic waste product in form of ammonium. Yet, we observed high rates of nitrification (NH4+ → NO3−, 5.7–40.8 nM gWW−1 [wet weight] h−1) associated with the scyphomedusae Aurelia aurita, Chrysaora hysoscella, and Chrysaora pacifica and low rates of incomplete nitrification (NH4+ → NO2−, 1.0–2.8 nM gWW−1 h−1) associated with Chrysaora fulgida, C. hysoscella, and C. pacifica. These observations indicate that microbes living in association with these jellyfish thrive by oxidizing the readily available ammonia to nitrite and nitrate. The four studied species have a large geographic distribution and exhibit frequent population outbreaks. We show that, during such outbreaks, jellyfish-associated release of nitrogen can provide more than 100% of the nitrogen required for primary production. These findings reveal a so far overlooked pathway when assessing pelagic nitrification rates that might be of particular relevance in nitrogen depleted surface waters and at high jellyfish population densities.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105104258&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/lno.11736
DO - 10.1002/lno.11736
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85105104258
SN - 1939-5590
VL - 66
SP - 2159
EP - 2173
JO - Limnology and Oceanography
JF - Limnology and Oceanography
IS - 6
ER -