Temperature As a Factor Influencing the Intensity
of the Metabolism and Mass Development of the Ctenophore
Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Black Sea

B. E. Anninskii and G. I. Abolmasova

Kovalevskii Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Sevastopol, Ukraine

Received October 19, 1998; in final form, May 11, 1999

Abstract—Temperature dependence of the oxygen consumption rate in three species of gelatinous mac-
roplankton of the Black Sea was studied. The species were revealed to have different ranges of tolerance. The
temperature of the maximum intensity of metabolism of the scyphoid medusa Aurelia aurita was 19.3°C; in the
ctenophore Pleurobrachia rhodopis it was 20.5°C; and in the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi it was 26.1°C. Taking
the exponent k in equation R = R₁W^k, where W is the organic body mass being equal to 0.84, we obtained that the
maximum intensities of O₂(R₁) consumption (R₁) were 2.14 0.03, 1.58 0.01, and 1.57 0.01µl mg¹ h¹,
respectively. Taking into account the observed ranges of temperature tolerance, the first two species should be
classified with cold-water stemothermic species, and M. leidyi seems to be more a warm-water, and at the same
time eurythermic, species. The ability of M. leidyi to sustain a high intensity of metabolism under a temperature
typical of the surface layers of the Black Sea during the summer period seems to be significant for mass devel-
opment of this species in that zone.

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