Scyphozoan jellyfish blooms display high interannual variability in terms of timing of appearance and size of the bloom. To understand the causes of this variability, the conditions experienced by the polyps prior to the production of ephyrae in the spring were examined. Polyps reared from planula larvae of Aurelia aurita medusae collected from southern England (50°49′58.8; − 1°05′36.9) were incubated under orthogonal combinations of temperature (4, 7, 10 °C) and duration (2, 4, 6, 8 weeks), representing the range of winter conditions in that region, before experiencing an increase to 13 °C. Timing and success of strobilation were recorded. No significant production of ephyrae was observed in any of the 2- and 4-week incubations, or in any 10 °C incubation. Time to first ephyra release decreased with longer winter incubations, and more ephyrae were produced following longer and colder winter simulations. This experiment indicates that A. aurita requires a minimum period of cooler temperatures to strobilate, and contradicts claims that jellyfish populations will be more prevalent in warming oceans, specifically in the context of warmer winter conditions. Such investigations on population-specific ontogeny highlights the need to examine each life stage separately as well as in the context of its environment.

中文翻译：

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更短、更暖的冬天可能会抑制月亮水母 Aurelia aurita 种群中 ephyrae 的产生

Scyphozoan 水母开花在出现时间和开花大小方面显示出很高的年际变化。为了了解这种变异的原因，研究了在春季产生 ephyrae 之前息肉所经历的条件。从英格兰南部 (50°49'58.8; − 1°05'36.9) 收集的 Aurelia aurita medusae 浮游幼虫饲养的息肉在温度 (4, 7, 10 °C) 和持续时间 (2, 4, 6, 8 周），代表该地区冬季条件的范围，之后温度升高至 13 °C。记录选通的时间和成功。在任何 2 周和 4 周的孵化中，或在任何 10 °C 的孵化中，都没有观察到显着的 ephyrae 产生。随着冬季孵化时间的延长，首次释放 ephyra 的时间减少，在更长和更冷的冬季模拟之后，产生了更多的 ephyrae。该实验表明 A. aurita 需要最短时间的较冷温度才能稳定，并且与水母种群在变暖的海洋中更加普遍的说法相矛盾，特别是在温暖的冬季条件下。此类对特定人群个体发育的调查强调需要分别检查每个生命阶段以及在其环境背景下。