Jellyfish blooms are an increasingly common event in our seas. Occurring via polyps’ asexual reproduction induced by human stresses, they represent a hazard for ecosystems equilibrium. The aim of this study is to highlight polyps underrated role during these events by investigating cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) exposure on Aurelia sp. polyps under laboratory conditions. Cd treatments seemed to not cause toxic effects on polyps up to 1000 μg/L, while 150 μg/L of Cu resulted above polyps’ tolerance for the metal, leading to a 62% of mortality and inducing the regression-regeneration cycle of polyps. Surprisingly, combined treatments of Cd and Cu had lesser effects, working antagonistically. Our results show how, in natural conditions, the chosen concentrations and combinations could not represent a hazard for polyps, instead, they stimulate the asexual reproduction, supporting the hormesis and, through jellyfish blooms, altering the Good Environmental Status aimed by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

水母开花在我们的海洋中越来越普遍。通过人类压力诱导的息肉无性繁殖发生，它们代表了对生态系统平衡的危害。本研究的目的是通过调查Aurelia上的镉 (Cd) 和铜 (Cu) 暴露来突出息肉在这些事件中被低估的作用sp。实验室条件下的息肉。Cd 处理似乎对高达 1000 μg/L 的息肉没有毒性作用，而 150 μg/L 的 Cu 导致超过息肉对金属的耐受性，导致 62% 的死亡率并诱导息肉的退化-再生循环。令人惊讶的是，Cd 和 Cu 的联合治疗效果较小，相互拮抗。我们的研究结果表明，在自然条件下，选择的浓度和组合如何不会对息肉造成危害，相反，它们会刺激无性繁殖，支持兴奋，并通过水母大量繁殖，改变海洋战略框架所针对的良好环境状况指示。