• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.61-65
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• 2008

Feeding apparatus, mechanism and passage of ingested prey were described for Nemopilema nomurai (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae). N. nomurai medusae without central mouths have developed complicated canal systems connecting the tip of the tentacle and oral arm to the gut cavity. The number of junctions in the canal system increases with the bell diameter. The prey is gathered by paralyzing nematocyst at the tentacles and by adhering cirri at the oral arms and scapulets. They are engulfed into the terminal pore located at the oral arms and scapulets, and entered into the gut cavity via the canal system. The estimated digestion time is 1 hour and 20 min. The diameter of terminal pore is always about 1 mm, implying that they could not eat prey larger than that pore size. On the other hand, ephyrae have central mouths and could swallow prey as large as adults could. Exploitation of the same size of food by adult and ephyra implies that N. nomurai can affect seriously the whole food web, massively ingesting micro- and mesozooplankton and cutting the energy transfer toward the higher level of carnivores.