Worldwide catches of cannonball jellyfish Stomolophus meleagris (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) have increased during the last years; nevertheless, this species still lacks updated biological knowledge for its management. This research proposes that the individual growth pattern for jellyfish can be estimated in the absence of age readings through cohort follow-up over time and by multi-model inference approach (MMI). Length data were obtained during 2010–2011 in Gulf of California to obtain cohort information using a multinomial analysis and then assign age; growth model selection was based on MMI. Three cohorts were identified and the von Bertalanffy model suitably described their growth. The species has an accelerated growth with a short life cycle; cohorts one and two reached their asymptotic length, and the third one barely reached the length-at-first sexual maturity. Growth variations among cohorts could be explained by their different biological strategies where the first two prioritized asymptotic length and the third one reproduction length. The three cohorts shared a common goal for medusoid phase, which was sexual reproduction. This information could be used for estimating harvest rates or assessing their capacity for redoubling as an invasive population in coastal ecosystems. The proposed methodology may be applied in other jellyfish species around the world.

中文翻译：

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基于多模型推理方法的炮弹水母 Stomolophus meleagris 生长建模

过去几年，全球炮弹水母 Stomolophus meleagris（刺胞动物：Scyphozoa）的捕获量有所增加；尽管如此，该物种仍然缺乏对其管理的最新生物学知识。这项研究提出，在没有年龄读数的情况下，可以通过随时间推移的队列跟踪和多模型推理方法 (MMI) 来估计水母的个体生长模式。长度数据是在 2010-2011 年期间在加利福尼亚湾获得的，以使用多项分析获得队列信息，然后分配年龄；增长模型选择基于MMI。确定了三个队列，von Bertalanffy 模型适当地描述了它们的增长。物种生长加速，生命周期短；队列 1 和 2 达到了渐近长度，第三个刚好达到性成熟时长。队列之间的生长变化可以用它们不同的生物学策略来解释，其中前两个优先考虑渐近长度，第三个优先考虑繁殖长度。这三个队列在髓质阶段有一个共同的目标，即有性生殖。该信息可用于估计收获率或评估它们在沿海生态系统中作为入侵种群加倍的能力。拟议的方法可以应用于世界各地的其他水母物种。这是有性生殖。该信息可用于估计收获率或评估它们在沿海生态系统中作为入侵种群加倍的能力。拟议的方法可以应用于世界各地的其他水母物种。这是有性生殖。该信息可用于估计收获率或评估它们在沿海生态系统中作为入侵种群加倍的能力。拟议的方法可以应用于世界各地的其他水母物种。