The abundance and distribution of larval winter flounder in the Niantic River could be affected by 

 predation. During their occurrence, the medusal stage of the lion's mane jellyfish {Cyanea sp.) was 

 examined as a potential predator (Miller et al. 1986). Larval predation by these medusae has been observed 

 in laboratory studies at NUEL. A medusa was placed in a container with laboratory-reared Stage 2 larvae. 

 All larvae that came in contact with a tentacle were immediately stunned and even larvae that were not 

 consumed by the medusa sank to the bottom and died. During the larval winter flounder season an 

 examination of medusae in the Niantic River showed that up to 50% of the feeding jellyfish had fish 

 larvae in their gastrovascular cavity. Medusae were primarily collected in the upper portion of the river 

 at station A. Marshall and Hicks (1962) also found that jellyfish were most abundant in the upper river. 

 During the 3-yr period there were noticeable differences in the abundance of medusae at station A (Fig, 

 15). Fewest were found in 1985, which corresponded to highest larval densities (Fig. 14). 



401 



30 



In 20 



10 



1984 



— 1985 



15FEB 01 MAR 15MAR 29MAR 12APR 26APR 1 0MAY 24MAY 



DATE 



Figure 1 5. Weekly mean volume (liters/500 m ) of Cyanea sp. medusae collected at station A in the Niantic River 

 from 1983 through 1985. 



76 



