Loading...
3 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
- An overview of jellyfish aquaculture: for food, feed, pharma and funPublication . Duarte, Inês Matos; Marques, Sónia Cotrim; Leandro, Sérgio Miguel; Calado, RicardoInterest on jellyfish research has significantly increased over the last two decades, mostly driven by the potential benefits of their high-end uses. Recent efforts have been put forward towards the commercial use of scyphozoan jellyfish, although the pipeline leading to their full exploitation is still at an early stage of development. Indeed, further research and several technical advances are still required to expand the use of these bioresources to a larger and more sustainable scale. Here, we describe the state of the art of culture systems already available to farm these organisms throughout the different stages of their life cycle and provide an overview of the potential applications of jellyfish aquaculture for food, feed, as source of bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical and other biotechnological applications, as well as to supply the marine aquarium trade. Overall, this work aims to raise awareness on the relevance that jellyfish will likely play on the development of sustainable blue bioeconomy frameworks fostering a sustainable valorisation of marine living resources.
- Medusa polyps adherence inhibition: A novel experimental model for antifouling assaysPublication . Pinteus, Susete; Lemos, Marco F.L.; Freitas, Rafaela; Duarte, Inês M.; Alves, Celso; Silva, Joana; Marques, Sónia C.; Pedrosa, RuiAlthough in the last decades significant advances have been made to improve antifouling formulations, the main current options continue to be highly toxic tomarine environment, leading to an urgent need for new safer alternatives. For anti-adherence studies, barnacles and mussels are commonly the first choice for experimental purposes. However, the use of these organisms involves a series of laborious and time-consuming stages. In the present work, a new approach for testing antifouling formulations was developed under known formulations and novel proposed options. Due to their high resilience, ability of surviving in hostile environments and high abundance in different ecosystems, medusa polyps present themselves as prospect candidates for antifouling protocols. Thus, a complete protocol to test antifouling formulations using polyps is presented, while the antifouling properties of two invasive seaweeds, Asparagopsis armata and Sargassum muticum, were evaluated within this new test model framework. The use of medusa polyps as model to test antifouling substances revealed to be a reliable alternative to the conventional organisms, presenting several advantages since the protocol is less laborious, less time-consuming and reproductive. The results also show that the seaweeds A. armata and S. muticum produce compounds with anti-adherence properties being therefore potential candidates for the development of new greener antifouling formulations.
- Euryhalinity and thermal tolerance of Phyllorhiza punctata (Scyphozoa) scyphostomae: life history and physiological trade‑offsPublication . Rato, Lénia D.; Pinto, Carlos; Duarte, Inês M.; Leandro, Sérgio M.; Marques, Sónia C.Phenomena such as global warming, rising sea temperatures and extreme weather and climate anomalies such as floods and heat waves have been shown to alter absolute salinity values. While affecting marine and estuarine population dynamics, these scenarios may also favour the invasion and proliferation of opportunistic and potentially harmful species in new geographical areas—such as blooming jellyfish. These organisms are one of the less studied taxa, particularly the proliferative asexual benthic phase, to which effects of in situ and experimental global change scenarios are poorly addressed. Acclimation and plasticity to global change scenarios were individually assessed through life history and physiological responses (survival, settlement time, time until maturity, feeding activity, asexual reproduction and behaviour) of laboratory-reared ciliated buds and polyps (= scyphostomae) of the invasive Phyllorhiza punctata (Cnidaria: Rhizostomeae). The present study evaluated the effects of two temperature levels (21 °C—current thermal scenario, or 25 °C—warming scenario) and six salinity regimes resembling estuarine and marine conditions (15, 20, 25, 30, 35 or 40) during 21 days. Under warming, P. punctata scyphostomae showed faster development and budding rates upon estuarine-like salinities, but higher mortality and reduced development under marine-like conditions—an ecological niche trade-off since at 21 °C such pattern was not found. Overall, our results suggest that global changes might prompt P. punctata proliferation through polyp colonisation mainly in estuarine areas and potentially increase blooming events with further implications at local and regional scales.