Large blooms of Rhopilema nomadica, a highly venomous rhizostamatid scyphozoan species introduced to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, have become ubiquitous in the summer and winter months along the Israeli coasts since the mid-1980s. This species has since spread across the eastern Mediterranean and was sighted as far west as Tunisia and Sardinia. For the past 12 years, we have studied changes in the mitochondrial COI haplotypes diversity of R. nomadica to investigate small scale fluctuactions of genetic diversity and to reveal possible genetic structuring of the fast spreading invader in the Eastern Mediterranean. The 1091 COI sequences analysed, revealed a highly diverse population displaying 89 haplotypes, 46 of which appeared as singletons, low frequency haplotypes. All the specimens analysed throughout the period belong to a single unstructured population. Though lacking data from the source population in the Red Sea, the high within-population diversity and the high diversity of COI haplotypes support the hypothesis of multiple introductions events, or an open corridor with a continuous influx of propagules. Tajima’s D and Fu’s Fst negative values and the increased numbers of COI singletons from early to late sampling periods, have verified that the Israeli population is characterized by a rapid expanding population. Further research is needed for the evaluation of COI diversity and patterns in R. nomadica populations across the eastern Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea, as well as any correlation of the high variability between COI locus and phenotypic diversity.

自1980年代中期以来，在以色列海岸沿岸的夏季和冬季，无处可容的Rhopilema nomadica大花盛开，这是通过苏伊士运河引入地中海的一种剧毒根瘤菌。此后，该物种已遍布地中海东部，并在突尼斯和撒丁岛的最西端见到。在过去的12年中，我们研究了游牧杜鹃线粒体COI单倍型多样性的变化调查遗传多样性的小范围波动，并揭示东地中海快速蔓延的入侵者的可能遗传结构。分析了1091个COI序列，显示出高度多样化的种群，显示89个单倍型，其中46个显示为单例，低频单倍型。在此期间分析的所有标本都属于单个非结构化种群。尽管缺乏来自红海源种群的数据，但高种群内多样性和高COI单倍型多样性支持了多次引入事件或连续繁殖繁殖体的开放走廊的假说。田岛的D和Fu的Fst负值，以及从早期到晚期采样期间COI单身人数的增加，已经证实，以色列人口的特点是人口迅速增加。为了评估COI多样性和模式，还需要进一步研究。整个东地中海和红海的游牧猕猴种群以及COI基因座和表型多样性之间的高变异性具有任何相关性。