Gothenburg Marine Biological Laboratory Info Research Education Diving
Gothenburg Marine Biological Laboratory
Gothenburg Marine Biological Laboratory is situated at Nya Varvet in Gothenburg where the river meets the sea. From the tram stations Klippan, Kungsten and Nya Varvallen it takes about 15 minutes walk to the lab. You can quickly get her by bike from central Gothenburg. The lab offers bench fees for doing your own research. We offer PADI diving courses from Open Water Diver to Divemaster.
NEWS FROM GMBL
Open lab on World Oceans Day 2019
The 8th June each year is United Nations ”World Oceans Day” to celebrate the oceans and to inform about the marine environment. This year Gothenburg Marine Biological Laboratory will celebrate World Oceans Day with an Open Lab event. Visitors are welcome to vsist the lab, do experiments, ask questions about the marine environment and to take part in citizen science and help researchers to look for marine invasive species. The event is free and is open between 10:00 – 12:00. For more information: email: info@gmbl.se phone: 0725-040 028. For more information about World Oceans Day: www.unworldoceansday.org
”Scientists investigate global spread of stinging jellyfish” (2019-05-22).
News & Insights article from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution about the research on clinging jellyfish. Read the article here.
New research on the toxic Clinging jellyfish in Swedish waters (2019-05-18).
A Clinging jellyfish (Gonionemus sp.). The size of the jellyfish is approx. 20 mm in diameter
In the summer of 2018, bathers at “Knuten”, near Skåpesund between Orust and Tjörn on the west coast of Sweden, reported to the Gothenburg Marine Biological Laboratory (GMBL) that they had been stung by an unusual jellyfish. Björn Källström, from GMBL, went to Knuten and collected samples of the jellyfish and they were identified as medusae of the species Gonionemus sp. The species later received the common name “Klängmanet”, which is the Swedish translation of the English “clinging jellyfish”. The medusae belong to the group Cnidaria and are close relatives of the ”common” jellyfish. With their cnidocytes (stinging cells), the jellyfish can deliver painful stings and in the summer of 2018, several bathers were stung in the area where the clinging jellyfish were observed. Many of those who were stung had painful reactions and were forced to seek medical attention. Clinging jellyfish have been observed in Sweden previously, but until now there have been no reports of stings. However, in other parts of the world such as along the Northwest Atlantic and Sea of Japan coasts, clinging jellyfish have also caused serious injury to people who have come into contact with them.
Now, researchers from the Gothenburg Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the US, University of Gothenburg, Evolutionary Biology Centre, University of Uppsala and the Norwegian Research Centre, andhave published a scientific article on the summer 2018 Swedish clinging jellyfish outbreak in the scientific journal PeerJ. The journal is open access, meaning that the article is freely available to all.
By collecting many jellyfish specimens, researchers have been able to compare DNA sequences of the Swedish jellyfish with those from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The results show that the clinging jellyfish from the Swedish west coast are genetically similar to other toxic populations found along coastal areas of the US east coast and the Sea of Japan.
In the article, the researchers linked the unusually hot and dry summer of 2018 with the Swedish clinging jellyfish outbreak. The researchers also discuss the possibilities that the jellyfish may have spread to the area via international shipping activity or a climate-related range expansion because of the unusually warm temperatures.
In the article, the researchers also provide detailed microscope images of the clinging jellyfish’s stinging cells and other details. These images will aid in the identification of this species elsewhere.
“If we get another hot and dry summer, there is a risk that the toxic clinging jellyfish will appear again and that they will spread to other areas on the Swedish west coast. We want to continue to study the expansion of clinging jellyfish in Swedish waters in order to better understand their biology and if possible to be able to help people to avoid being stung by them” says Björn Källström, one of the researchers behind the study.
A link to the article “The highly toxic and cryptogenic clinging jellyfish Gonionemus sp. (Hydrozoa, Limnomedusae) on the Swedish west coast” can be found here: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6883