. Methods
2.1. Data collection
Between 2007 and 2010, scyphomedusae were caught as
bycatch during the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) of
Northern Ireland annual Methot Isaacs Kidd-net Survey (NI-MIK),
targeting juvenile gadoid fish, on board the RV Corystes. The survey
follows a fixed station stratified design, taking place at the end of
May and early June (during the period prior to settlement of pelagic
juvenile gadoids) across the northern part of the Irish Sea (north of
53.25N) (Fig. 1). Annually the western Irish Sea (i.e. west of
4.75 Fig. 1. Study site and sampling stations in the Irish Sea. W) is sampled twice and the eastern Irish Sea once, but dates