2.3. Attributing catches to water types
The Irish Sea Pilot project (Golding et al., 2004) identified 4
eco-regions or ‘water column marine landscapes' for the Irish Sea,
defined by salinity (high/low) and stratification (mixed/stratified).
Environmental data collected during the 2008e2010 surveys were
used to identify those water-masses corresponding to each catch
and test for significant differences in individual wet mass of Aurelia
aurita and Cyanea spp. medusae between these 4 water types
(SHS for stratified and high salinity; MHS for mixed and high
salinity; SLS for stratified and low salinity, and MLS for mixed and
low salinity).