Students from around the world with a keen interest in jellyfish converged at a five-day workshop in Cape Town this month to learn how to scientifically identify these fascinating sea creatures with their characteristic umbrella-shaped bells and trailing tentacles.

Workshop co-organiser, University of the Western Cape (UWC) Professor Mark Gibbons said jellyfish are important predators and prey in coastal and oceanic ecosystems.

Prof Gibbons said: "The presence of jellyfish can be an indicator of ocean health.

“Any fluctuation in their numbers above or below the long-term baseline is an indication of an oceanic system imbalance.

"However, they are not the easiest of animals to identify and yet, without a knowledge of identity, it is difficult to understand or manage them."

In an effort to redress this, scientists and students from African and Norwegian universities and research institutions participated in the workshop on the identification of gelatinous zooplankton.

The workshop is part of a mobility project (PRIMALearn) between the University of Bergen (UiB), Norway and UWC, South Africa. It built on the specialised training of African students in multifrequency hydro-acoustics held in Bergen at an earlier date. 

The project collaborates with the EAF-Nansen Programme, which is funded by the Norwegian agency for development cooperation (Norad) and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in close collaboration with the Institute of Marine Research (IMR), Norway. 

UWC PhD student and co-organiser, Michael Brown, said lectures on the anatomy of the different groups of jellyfish (Scyphozoa, Cubozoa, Siphonophora, Hydromedusae – one per day) were followed by practical sessions, wherein participants had the opportunity to see and identify representatives of the diverse medusozoan fauna found around Africa and apply the knowledge gained in earlier sessions. 

READ MORE  ABOUT STUDYING BIODIVERSITY AND CONVERSATION BIOLOGY AT UWC
 

Students were guided by the experts and were assisted by the relevant literature, including the recent FAO publication “Identification guide to macro jellyfish of West Africa”. 

One of the key objectives of the workshop was to get students to describe a jellyfish specimen as fully as possible, using formal conventions, so that it would still be possible to arrive at some form of identification.

In a round-table discussion at the end of the week’s activities, it became apparent that the majority of the students’ expectations had been exceeded and most were now quite comfortable with putting a name to a face, so-to-speak. They particularly appreciated it when lectures and practical classes were combined, as they could immediately relate theoretical anatomy to real anatomy on the specimen at hand, and this is a lesson we can take forward. 

The workshop was an opportunity to connect and a welcome chance to connect with others with an interest in jellyfish.