Collaborative Research: A New Approach to Understanding Prey Selection and Nutrition in Scyphomedusae

小行星9304219 虽然scyphomedusae的重要性，捕食者在浮游生物群落已被充分证明，我们目前还不能清楚地预测哪些组件的浮游生物种群将受到scyphomedusan捕食。 传统的方法，如实验室“黑匣子”喂养研究或肠道内容物从现场样品一直是有价值的，但不足以解决这个问题，因为他们没有揭示如何喂养的相互作用发生的方法。 如何是必要的，以预测哪些猎物将被消耗在新的情况。 该项目将开发一种新的方法，将两名专门从事视频和传统方法研究猎物选择的调查人员的独立专业知识结合起来。 首先，实验室工作将量化水母的身体计划，流体运动和猎物捕获之间的关系。 第二，现场研究的猎物选择肠道分析将确定一致性的演变模型与原位选择模式。 第三，具有受控捕食者-被捕食者条件的围隔生态系统研究将通过假设检验对模型进行批判性评估。 本研究将以两种分布广泛的钵水母Auerliaaurita和Cyanea capillata为研究对象。 虽然有着相似的叶状形态，但成年形式在身体平面上有很大的差异。 这项工作的结果将有助于我们了解这些特定的捕食者，最scyphomedusae共享的ephyral形式，并最终，捕食者-猎物的相互作用的力学在aprotonic社区。

9304219 SULLIVAN While the importance of scyphomedusae as predators in planktonic communities has ben amply demonstrated, we are not presently able to clearly predict which components of planktonic populations will be affected by scyphomedusan predation. Conventional methodologies such as laboratory "black box" feeding studies or gut contents from field samples have been valuable but insufficient approaches to resolve this issue because they do not reveal how the feeding interactions occur. The how is necessary to predict which prey will be consumed in novel situations. A new approach will be developed in this project that combines the separate expertise of two investigators specializing in video and conventional methods for the study of prey selection. First, laboratory work will quantify relationships between medusan body plan, fluid motions and prey capture. Second, field studies of prey selection by gut analyses will determine congruence of an evolving model with in situ selection patterns. Third, mesocosm studies with controlled predator-prey conditions will critically evaluate the model via hypothesis testing. The research will center on the ephyral through young adult transition period of two abundant and cosmopolitan scyphomedusae, Auerlia aurita and Cyanea capillata. While sharing similar ephyral morphologies, the adult forms diverge widely in body plan. The results of this work will contribute to our understanding of these specific predators, the ephyral form shared by most scyphomedusae and, ultimately, to the mechanics of predator-prey interactions in planktonic communities.