Rhopilema Nomadica (Nomad jellyfish)
Originally from the Indo-Pacific, the Nomad jellyfish first made its appearance in the Mediterranean in the 70s via the Suez Canal, while the first mass appearance was registered in 1995 in Mersin Bay, off the coast of Turkey (Öztürk and İşinibilir 2010).
The large presence of this invasive species in the Mediterranean is a cause of concern for the local populations (due to the particularly bad stings), and also for the tourist industry in the affected areas, such as the Israeli coast. The Rhopilema Nomadica affects fishing as well, as it gets entangled in fishing nets and also eats fish larvae, causing a decrease in the fish stock (Galil 2007).
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| Nomad Jellyfish (Rhopilema Nomadica) |
Due to its rapid spread, the Rhopilema Nomadica is included in the list of the 100 worst invasive species in Europe within the Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe (DAISIE). Its diffusion is diminishing plankton resources and is being detrimental to fishing, tourism and coastal installations. Seasonal variations in water temperature regimes could help fight the annual occurrence of the nomadic jellyfish, whose presence has been further recorder in 2004 in Malta and the Sicily Channel ( Deidun et al. 2011).
The discovery of R. Nomadica in Maltese waters is another alarming indication of the increasing warming of the Mediterranean Sea as a result of climate change. Among the proposed preventative measures is a salinity barrier in the Suez Canal in order to reduce the number of Red Sea aliens in the Mediterranean.
Will R. Nomadica spread as north as the Ionian Sea and further north along the Italian coasts?
Watch this very short video below to see for yourself how jellyfish are threatening Israeli Power Plants: It's quite astonishing!!
Will R. Nomadica spread as north as the Ionian Sea and further north along the Italian coasts?
Watch this very short video below to see for yourself how jellyfish are threatening Israeli Power Plants: It's quite astonishing!!
More on the spread of the nomad jellyfish in the Mediterranean:
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