The overarching goal of this project is to determine whether eastern Mediterranean Israeli coast populations of the invasive ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi, bear ectosymbiotic amoebae similar or identical to ctenophores of the United States Gulf and southern Atlantic coast. Since invasive M. leidyi originated from the northern Gulf of Mexico (Reusch et al 2010; Bolte, 2013), they may have carried with them their unique symbiotic assemblage. In this study, we intend to determine how closely the coastal US and Israeli ctenophore populations are related with regard to the host DNA as well as the identity of the [eukaryotic] ectosymbiotic population. Ctenophores will be collected during the 8-week period from three different sites along the Mediterranean Israeli coast that experience different environmental conditions. The ctenophores will be examined using microscopy and imaging methods for the presence of comb plate amoebae. Amoebae will be removed from the ctenophores and described using morphological and movement characteristics. In addition, collected amoebae cells will be prepped for DNA extraction and sent back to Auburn University for further analysis. Results from this study will help us better understand the relationship between the ctenophore and its symbionts and how varying climates can play a role in their association. Results from this study might also help shed further light on the reason for the extremely invasive host’s success in invading all of the European Seas in the 1990-2012 period.

Primary Presenter: Antrelle Clark, Auburn University (antrelleclark@gmail.com)

Authors:

Dror Angel, University of Haifa  (dangel@univ.haifa.ac.il)

Anthony Moss, Auburn University  (mossant@auburn.edu)