The ctenophore <em>Mnemiopsis leidyi</em> is a coastal and opportunistic species that can be abundant and invasive in many parts of the world causing fishery crashes and altering ecosystems. This species is well known for its bright bioluminescence, but its light emission response to flow stimulation has not been previously quantified. The objective of this study is to determine the luminescent response of <em>M. leidyi</em> to several types of mechanical stimuli, including fully characterized laminar pipe flow, an impeller pump with the UBAT bathyphotometer, grid stimulated pipe flow, and stirring as the stimulus within an integrating sphere. For all conditions, the light intensity and temporal kinetics of the flash responses were determined such as total flash duration, rise time, exponential decay, and max intensity of the most prominent peak. For the UBAT, max intensity of the most prominent peak was 2.5e10 photons/s with an average rise time of 0.0798s and a median flash duration of 0.48s. For pipe flow, the response threshold was assessed as a function of fluid shear stress, the threshold was found to be 0.06Pa. Tests with different ages and sizes of cydippids determine how the bioluminescent responses differ with developmental stage, as the flashes of older and larger individuals are higher in intensity and longer. This study provides a well-defined baseline of cydippid flash responses, which can be used for interpreting field measurements made with bathyphotometers and determining their contribution to the bioluminescence potential of waters where they are present.

Primary Presenter: Abigail Blackburn, HBOI FAU (ablackburn2021@fau.edu)

Authors:

Abigail Blackburn, HBOI FAU  (ablackburn2021@fau.edu)

Edwin Malkiel, HBOI FAU  ()

Malcolm McFarland, HBOI FAU  ()

Francis Letendre, HBOI FAU  ()

Michael Latz, Scripps Institution of Oceanography  ()

Carina Poulin, HBOI FAU  ()

Dorothy Mitchell, Whitney Lab UF  ()

Michael Twardowski, HBOI FAU  ()