Marine microbes fritter away jelly bonus

Bacterial feasts during jellyfish blooms drain valuable carbon out of the food web

Dissolved jellyfish slime turns out to be like candy for marine microbes. But the sugar high they get from feasting during a jellyfish bloom busts a leak in marine food webs that shunts valuable carbon away from fish.

YUMMY SLIME When the sea nettle Chrysaora quinquecirrha propagates into a sudden crowd, bacteria feasting on the jellyfish’s mucus put a kink in the food web by sending a disproportionate share of carbon away from fish.