On June 13, 2021, citizens of Nantong Economic and Technological Development Zone reported that suspected jellyfish organisms were found to appear in the lake in the community. The staff of Nantong Environmental Monitoring Center in Jiangsu Province immediately went to carry out special monitoring, through on-site observation and microscopic observation, after verification by relevant experts, it was confirmed that it was a peach blossom jellyfish, which was very rare, and Nantong had not been reported before.
Craspedacusta is a genus of the Hydrae family of freshwater jellyfish, the only small jellyfish living in freshwater, feeding on small zooplankton, and some peach blossom jellyfish species are listed in the Red List of Endangered and Critically Endangered Species in China. Peach blossom jellyfish is an excellent environmental indicator organism, very rare, only appears under harsh environmental conditions, high-quality clear water, weak acid, sufficient food, water temperature 25-30 degrees, etc., survival time is only 1-2 months.
The habitat of peach blossom jellyfish observed at the scene is a closed artificial lake, the water body is clear, the transparency is about 50, there are more water plants, and a large number of peach blossom jellyfish groups can be seen swimming on the surface of the water. After sampling on the spot, the monitoring personnel took it back to the laboratory for microscopic observation and photography, and analyzed the physical and chemical indicators of the water body.
In recent years, Nantong has adhered to the improvement of environmental quality as the core, made every effort to win the battle against pollution, greatly improved the quality of the ecological environment, the water quality improvement of 31 provincial examinations and above sections ranked first in the province, 29 met the Class III water quality standards, accounting for 93.5%, and the main rivers entering the river and the sea were all eliminated from the inferior V. class. This peach blossom jellyfish is the first record of the coastal area of the Yangtze River after the discovery of the Taihu Lake Basin, and has become the best witness to the good ecological environment quality of Nantong.
Correspondent Su Xiaohuan Yangzi Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter Cao Lujie
Proofread by Li Haihui
Source: Purple Cow News