An invasion by Muggiaea atlantica Cunningham 1892 in the northern Adriatic Sea in the summer of 1997 and the fate of small copepods

Abstract

       The calycophoran siphonophore Muggiaea atlantica was found for the first time in the Adriatic Sea in February 1995 in the coastal region off Dubrovnik. At the beginning of summer 1997 in the shallow northern Adriatic it attained a maximum density of 450 nectophores m^-3 and 730 eudoxids m^-3. During the time of the mass invasion of this allochthonous species of calycophore, a change in the structure, distribution and density of population of nauplii, copepodid stages and adult small copepods was observed.