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Aurelia aurita

Aurelia aurita (also called the common jellyfish, moon jellyfish, moon jelly or saucer jelly) is a species of the genus Aurelia.[1] All species in the genus are very similar, and it is difficult to identify Aurelia medusae without genetic sampling;[2] most of what follows applies equally to all species of the genus. The most common method used to identify the species consists of selecting a jellyfish from a harbour using a device, usually a drinking glass and then photographing the subject. This means that they can be released in to the harbour shortly afterwards and return to their natural habitat.

Aurelia aurita
Aurelia aurita, Red Sea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Scyphozoa
Order: Semaeostomeae
Family: Ulmaridae
Genus: Aurelia
Species:
A. aurita
Binomial name
Aurelia aurita

The jellyfish is almost entirely translucent, usually about 25–40 cm (10–16 in) in diameter, and can be recognized by its four horseshoe-shaped gonads, easily seen through the top of the bell. It feeds by collecting medusae, plankton, and mollusks with its tentacles, and bringing them into its body for digestion. It is capable of only limited motion, and drifts with the current, even when swimming.

Distribution

The species Aurelia aurita is found in the North, Black, Baltic and Caspian Seas, Northeast Atlantic, Greenland, northeastern USA and Canada, Northwest Pacific and South America.[2][3][4] In general, Aurelia is an inshore genus that can be found in estuaries and harbors.[5]

Moon jellyfish swimming (high resolution)

Aurelia aurita lives in ocean water temperatures ranging from 6–31 °C (43–88 °F); with optimum temperatures of 9–19 °C (48–66 °F). It prefers temperate seas with consistent currents. It has been found in waters with salinity as low as 6 parts per thousand.[6] The relation between summer hypoxia and moon jellyfish distribution is prominent during the summer months of July and August where temperatures are high and dissolved oxygen (DO) is low. Of the three environmental conditions tested, bottom DO has the most significant effect on moon jellyfish abundance. Moon jellyfish abundance is the highest when bottom dissolved oxygen concentration is lower than 2.0 mg L−1.[7] Moon jellyfish show a strong tolerance to low DO conditions, which is why their population is still relatively high during the summer. Generally, hypoxia causes species to move from the oxygen depleted zone, but this is not the case for the moon jellyfish. Furthermore, bell contract rate, which indicates moon jellyfish feeding activity, remains constant although DO concentrations are lower than normal.[7] During July and August it is observed that moon jellyfish aggregations of 250 individuals consumed an estimated 100% of the mesozooplankton biomass in the Seto Inland Sea.[8] Other major fish predators that are also present in these coastal waters do not seem to show the same high tolerance to low DO concentrations that the moon jellyfish exhibit. The feeding and predatory performance of these fish significantly decreases when DO concentrations are so low. This allows for less competition between the moon jellyfish and other fish predators for zooplankton. Low DO concentrations in the coastal waters such as the Tokyo Bay in Japan and Seto Inland Sea prove to be advantageous for the moon jellyfish in terms of feeding, growth, and survival.

Feeding

Aurelia aurita and other Aurelia species feed on plankton that includes organisms such as mollusks, crustaceans, tunicate larvae, rotifers, young polychaetes, protozoans, diatoms, eggs, fish eggs, and other small organisms. Occasionally, they are also seen feeding on gelatinous zooplankton such as hydromedusae and ctenophores.[6] Both the adult medusae and larvae of Aurelia have nematocysts to capture prey and also to protect themselves from predators.

The food is caught with its nematocyst-laden tentacles, tied with mucus, brought to the gastrovascular cavity, and passed into the cavity by ciliated action. There, digestive enzymes from serous cell break down the food. Little is known about the requirements for particular vitamins and minerals, but due to the presence of some digestive enzymes, we can deduce in general that A. aurita can process carbohydrates, proteins and lipids.[9]

Body system

 
Aurelia with an anomalous number of gonads — most have four.[5]

Aurelia does not have respiratory parts such as gills, lungs or trachea; it respires by diffusing oxygen from water through the thin membrane covering its body. Within the gastrovascular cavity, low oxygenated water can be expelled and high oxygenated water can come in by ciliated action, thus increasing the diffusion of oxygen through cell.[10] The large surface area membrane to volume ratio helps Aurelia to diffuse more oxygen and nutrients into the cells.

The basic body plan of Aurelia consists of several parts. The animal lacks respiratory, excretory, and circulatory systems. The adult medusa of Aurelia, with a transparent look, has an umbrella margin membrane and tentacles that are attached to the bottom.[5] It has four bright gonads that are under the stomach.[5] Food travels through the muscular manubrium while the radial canals help disperse the food.[5] There is a middle layer of mesoglea, gastrodervascular cavity with gastrodermis, and epidermis.[11] There is a nerve net that is responsible for contractions in swimming muscles and feeding responses.[9] Adult medusae can have diameters up to 40 cm (16 in).[9]

The medusae are either male or female.[9] The young larval stage, a planula, has small ciliated cells and after swimming freely in the plankton for a day or more, settles on an appropriate substrate, where it changes into a special type of polyp called a "scyphistoma", which divides by strobilation into small ephyrae that swim off to grow up as medusae.[12][13] There is an increasing size from starting stage planula to ephyra, from less than 1 mm in the planula stage, up to about 1 cm in ephyra stage, and then to several cm in diameter in the medusa stage.[5]

A recent study has found that A. aurita are capable of lifecycle reversal where individuals grow younger instead of older, akin to the "immortal jellyfish" Turritopsis dohrnii.[14]

There has been a study presenting that Aurelia's body system isn't significantly affected by artificial materials like microbeads, which can be found in cosmetic and personal care products. Aurelia aurita was able to recognize that microbeads were not food so there wasn't any physiological or histological harm.[15]

Predators

 
Three moon jellies captured by a lion's mane jellyfish

Aurelia aurita have high proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids comparative to other prey types which provides vital nutritions to predators.[16] Aurelia aurita are known to be eaten by a wide variety of predators, including the ocean sunfish (Mola mola), the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), the scyphomedusa Phacellophora camtschatica,[17][18] and a very large hydromedusa (Aequorea victoria).[9] Recently it was reported from the Red Sea that Aurelia aurita was seasonally preyed upon by two herbivorous fish.[19] Moon jellies are also fed upon by sea birds, which may be more interested in the amphipods and other small arthropods that frequent the bells of Aurelia, but in any case, birds do some substantial amount of damage to these jellyfish that often are found just at the surface of bays.

Aurelia jellyfish naturally die after living and reproducing for several months. It is probably rare for these moon jellies to live more than about six months in the wild, although specimens cared for in public aquarium exhibits typically live several to many years. In the wild, the warm water at the end of summer combines with exhaustive daily reproduction and lower natural levels of food for tissue repair, leaving these jellyfish more susceptible to bacterial and other disease problems that likely lead to the demise of most individuals. Such problems are responsible for the demise of many smaller species of jellyfish.[20] In 1997, Arai summarized that seasonal reproduction leaves the gonads open to infection and degradation.[9]

Some metazoan parasites attack Aurelia aurita, as well as most other species of jellyfish.[9]

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Dawson, Michael N. . Archived from the original on 2018-03-25. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  2. ^ a b Lawley, Jonathan W.; Gamero-Mora, Edgar; Maronna, Maximiliano M.; Chiaverano, Luciano M.; Stampar, Sérgio N.; Hopcroft, Russell R.; Collins, Allen G.; Morandini, André C. (2021-09-09). "The importance of molecular characters when morphological variability hinders diagnosability: systematics of the moon jellyfish genus Aurelia (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa)". PeerJ. 9: e11954. doi:10.7717/peerj.11954. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 8435205. PMID 34589293.
  3. ^ Dawson, M. N.; Sen Gupta, A.; England, M. H. (2005). "Coupled biophysical global ocean model and molecular genetic analyses identify multiple introductions of cryptogenic species". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 102 (34): 11968–73. Bibcode:2005PNAS..10211968D. doi:10.1073/pnas.0503811102. PMC 1189321. PMID 16103373.
  4. ^ Dawson, M. N. (2003). "Macro-morphological variation among cryptic species of the moon jellyfish, Aurelia (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa)". Marine Biology. 143 (2): 369–79. doi:10.1007/s00227-003-1070-3. S2CID 189820003.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Russell, F. S. (1953). The Medusae of the British Isles II. London: Cambridge University Press. pp. 81–186.
  6. ^ a b Rodriguez, R. J. (February 1996). "Aurelia aurita (Saucer Jelly, Moon Jelly, Common Sea Jelly Jellyfish) Narrative".
  7. ^ a b Shoji, J.; Yamashita, R.; Tanaka, M. (2005). "Effect of low dissolved oxygen concentrations on behavior and predation rates on fish larvae by moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita and by a juvenile piscivore, Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius". Marine Biology. 147 (4): 863–68. doi:10.1007/s00227-005-1579-8. S2CID 83862921.
  8. ^ Uye, S.; Fujii, N.; Takeoka, H. (2003). "Unusual aggregations of the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita in coastal waters along western Shikoku, Japan". The Plankton Society of Japan. 50 (1): 17–21.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Arai, M. N. (1997). A Functional Biology of Scyphozoa. London: Chapman and Hall. pp. 68–206. ISBN 978-0-412-45110-2.
  10. ^ Rees, W. J. (1966). The Cnidaria and Their Evolution. London: Academic Press. pp. 77–104.
  11. ^ Solomon, E. P.; Berg, L. R.; Martin, W. W. (2002). Biology (6th ed.). London: Brooks/Cole. pp. 602–608. ISBN 978-0-534-39175-1.
  12. ^ Tree of Life – NJ Jellyfish – Aurelia aurita
  13. ^ Gilbertson, L. (1999). Zoology Laboratory Manual (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill. pp. 9.2–9.7. ISBN 978-0-07-229641-9.
  14. ^ He, J; Zheng, L; Zhang, W; Lin, Y (2015). "Life Cycle Reversal in Aurelia sp.1 (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa)". PLoS ONE. 10 (12): e0145314. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1045314H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0145314. PMC 4687044. PMID 26690755.
  15. ^ Sucharitakul, Phuping (2020). "Limited ingestion, rapid egestion and no detectable impacts of microbeads on the moon jellyfish, Aurelia aurita". Marine Pollution Bulletin. 156: 111208. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111208. PMID 32366368. S2CID 218504266.
  16. ^ "Jellyfish contain no calories, so why do they still attract predators?". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  17. ^ Strand, S. W.; Hamner, W. M. (1988). "Predatory behavior of Phacellophora camtschatica and size-selective predation upon Aurelia aurita (Scyphozoa: Cnidaria) in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia". Marine Biology. 99 (3): 409–414. doi:10.1007/BF02112134. S2CID 84652019.
  18. ^ Towanda, T.; Thuesen, E. V. (2006). "Ectosymbiotic behavior of Cancer gracilis and its trophic relationships with its host Phacellophora camtschatica and the parasitoid Hyperia medusarum" (PDF). Marine Ecology Progress Series. 315: 221–236. Bibcode:2006MEPS..315..221T. doi:10.3354/meps315221.
  19. ^ Bos A.R., Cruz-Rivera E. and Sanad A.M. (2016). "Herbivorous fishes Siganus rivulatus (Siganidae) and Zebrasoma desjardinii (Acanthuridae) feed on Ctenophora and Scyphozoa in the Red Sea". Marine Biodiversity. 47: 243–246. doi:10.1007/s12526-016-0454-9. S2CID 24694789.
  20. ^ Mills, C. E. (1993). "Natural mortality in NE Pacific coastal hydromedusae: grazing predation, wound healing and senescence". Bulletin of Marine Science. 53 (Proceedings of the Zooplankton Ecology Symposium): 194–203.

Further reading

External links

  •   Media related to Aurelia aurita at Wikimedia Commons
  •   Data related to Aurelia aurita at Wikispecies
  • Photos of Aurelia aurita on Sealife Collection

aurelia, aurita, also, called, common, jellyfish, moon, jellyfish, moon, jelly, saucer, jelly, species, genus, aurelia, species, genus, very, similar, difficult, identify, aurelia, medusae, without, genetic, sampling, most, what, follows, applies, equally, spe. Aurelia aurita also called the common jellyfish moon jellyfish moon jelly or saucer jelly is a species of the genus Aurelia 1 All species in the genus are very similar and it is difficult to identify Aurelia medusae without genetic sampling 2 most of what follows applies equally to all species of the genus The most common method used to identify the species consists of selecting a jellyfish from a harbour using a device usually a drinking glass and then photographing the subject This means that they can be released in to the harbour shortly afterwards and return to their natural habitat Aurelia auritaAurelia aurita Red SeaScientific classificationKingdom AnimaliaPhylum CnidariaClass ScyphozoaOrder SemaeostomeaeFamily UlmaridaeGenus AureliaSpecies A auritaBinomial nameAurelia aurita Linnaeus 1758 The jellyfish is almost entirely translucent usually about 25 40 cm 10 16 in in diameter and can be recognized by its four horseshoe shaped gonads easily seen through the top of the bell It feeds by collecting medusae plankton and mollusks with its tentacles and bringing them into its body for digestion It is capable of only limited motion and drifts with the current even when swimming Contents 1 Distribution 2 Feeding 3 Body system 4 Predators 5 Gallery 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksDistribution EditThe species Aurelia aurita is found in the North Black Baltic and Caspian Seas Northeast Atlantic Greenland northeastern USA and Canada Northwest Pacific and South America 2 3 4 In general Aurelia is an inshore genus that can be found in estuaries and harbors 5 source source source source source source source source source source source source Moon jellyfish swimming high resolution Aurelia aurita lives in ocean water temperatures ranging from 6 31 C 43 88 F with optimum temperatures of 9 19 C 48 66 F It prefers temperate seas with consistent currents It has been found in waters with salinity as low as 6 parts per thousand 6 The relation between summer hypoxia and moon jellyfish distribution is prominent during the summer months of July and August where temperatures are high and dissolved oxygen DO is low Of the three environmental conditions tested bottom DO has the most significant effect on moon jellyfish abundance Moon jellyfish abundance is the highest when bottom dissolved oxygen concentration is lower than 2 0 mg L 1 7 Moon jellyfish show a strong tolerance to low DO conditions which is why their population is still relatively high during the summer Generally hypoxia causes species to move from the oxygen depleted zone but this is not the case for the moon jellyfish Furthermore bell contract rate which indicates moon jellyfish feeding activity remains constant although DO concentrations are lower than normal 7 During July and August it is observed that moon jellyfish aggregations of 250 individuals consumed an estimated 100 of the mesozooplankton biomass in the Seto Inland Sea 8 Other major fish predators that are also present in these coastal waters do not seem to show the same high tolerance to low DO concentrations that the moon jellyfish exhibit The feeding and predatory performance of these fish significantly decreases when DO concentrations are so low This allows for less competition between the moon jellyfish and other fish predators for zooplankton Low DO concentrations in the coastal waters such as the Tokyo Bay in Japan and Seto Inland Sea prove to be advantageous for the moon jellyfish in terms of feeding growth and survival Feeding EditAurelia aurita and other Aurelia species feed on plankton that includes organisms such as mollusks crustaceans tunicate larvae rotifers young polychaetes protozoans diatoms eggs fish eggs and other small organisms Occasionally they are also seen feeding on gelatinous zooplankton such as hydromedusae and ctenophores 6 Both the adult medusae and larvae of Aurelia have nematocysts to capture prey and also to protect themselves from predators The food is caught with its nematocyst laden tentacles tied with mucus brought to the gastrovascular cavity and passed into the cavity by ciliated action There digestive enzymes from serous cell break down the food Little is known about the requirements for particular vitamins and minerals but due to the presence of some digestive enzymes we can deduce in general that A aurita can process carbohydrates proteins and lipids 9 Body system Edit Aurelia with an anomalous number of gonads most have four 5 Aurelia does not have respiratory parts such as gills lungs or trachea it respires by diffusing oxygen from water through the thin membrane covering its body Within the gastrovascular cavity low oxygenated water can be expelled and high oxygenated water can come in by ciliated action thus increasing the diffusion of oxygen through cell 10 The large surface area membrane to volume ratio helps Aurelia to diffuse more oxygen and nutrients into the cells The basic body plan of Aurelia consists of several parts The animal lacks respiratory excretory and circulatory systems The adult medusa of Aurelia with a transparent look has an umbrella margin membrane and tentacles that are attached to the bottom 5 It has four bright gonads that are under the stomach 5 Food travels through the muscular manubrium while the radial canals help disperse the food 5 There is a middle layer of mesoglea gastrodervascular cavity with gastrodermis and epidermis 11 There is a nerve net that is responsible for contractions in swimming muscles and feeding responses 9 Adult medusae can have diameters up to 40 cm 16 in 9 The medusae are either male or female 9 The young larval stage a planula has small ciliated cells and after swimming freely in the plankton for a day or more settles on an appropriate substrate where it changes into a special type of polyp called a scyphistoma which divides by strobilation into small ephyrae that swim off to grow up as medusae 12 13 There is an increasing size from starting stage planula to ephyra from less than 1 mm in the planula stage up to about 1 cm in ephyra stage and then to several cm in diameter in the medusa stage 5 A recent study has found that A aurita are capable of lifecycle reversal where individuals grow younger instead of older akin to the immortal jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii 14 There has been a study presenting that Aurelia s body system isn t significantly affected by artificial materials like microbeads which can be found in cosmetic and personal care products Aurelia aurita was able to recognize that microbeads were not food so there wasn t any physiological or histological harm 15 Predators Edit Three moon jellies captured by a lion s mane jellyfish Aurelia aurita have high proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids comparative to other prey types which provides vital nutritions to predators 16 Aurelia aurita are known to be eaten by a wide variety of predators including the ocean sunfish Mola mola the leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea the scyphomedusa Phacellophora camtschatica 17 18 and a very large hydromedusa Aequorea victoria 9 Recently it was reported from the Red Sea that Aurelia aurita was seasonally preyed upon by two herbivorous fish 19 Moon jellies are also fed upon by sea birds which may be more interested in the amphipods and other small arthropods that frequent the bells of Aurelia but in any case birds do some substantial amount of damage to these jellyfish that often are found just at the surface of bays Aurelia jellyfish naturally die after living and reproducing for several months It is probably rare for these moon jellies to live more than about six months in the wild although specimens cared for in public aquarium exhibits typically live several to many years In the wild the warm water at the end of summer combines with exhaustive daily reproduction and lower natural levels of food for tissue repair leaving these jellyfish more susceptible to bacterial and other disease problems that likely lead to the demise of most individuals Such problems are responsible for the demise of many smaller species of jellyfish 20 In 1997 Arai summarized that seasonal reproduction leaves the gonads open to infection and degradation 9 Some metazoan parasites attack Aurelia aurita as well as most other species of jellyfish 9 Gallery Edit Aurelia aurita in the Pairi Daiza aquarium Belgium Aurelia sp from the Monterey Bay Aquarium A damaged Aurelia sp individual An adult Aurelia aurita On the beach Aurelia aurite washed up on the beach JurmalaReferences Edit Dawson Michael N Aurelia species Archived from the original on 2018 03 25 Retrieved 2008 08 12 a b Lawley Jonathan W Gamero Mora Edgar Maronna Maximiliano M Chiaverano Luciano M Stampar Sergio N Hopcroft Russell R Collins Allen G Morandini Andre C 2021 09 09 The importance of molecular characters when morphological variability hinders diagnosability systematics of the moon jellyfish genus Aurelia Cnidaria Scyphozoa PeerJ 9 e11954 doi 10 7717 peerj 11954 ISSN 2167 8359 PMC 8435205 PMID 34589293 Dawson M N Sen Gupta A England M H 2005 Coupled biophysical global ocean model and molecular genetic analyses identify multiple introductions of cryptogenic species Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102 34 11968 73 Bibcode 2005PNAS 10211968D doi 10 1073 pnas 0503811102 PMC 1189321 PMID 16103373 Dawson M N 2003 Macro morphological variation among cryptic species of the moon jellyfish Aurelia Cnidaria Scyphozoa Marine Biology 143 2 369 79 doi 10 1007 s00227 003 1070 3 S2CID 189820003 a b c d e f Russell F S 1953 The Medusae of the British Isles II London Cambridge University Press pp 81 186 a b Rodriguez R J February 1996 Aurelia aurita Saucer Jelly Moon Jelly Common Sea Jelly Jellyfish Narrative a b Shoji J Yamashita R Tanaka M 2005 Effect of low dissolved oxygen concentrations on behavior and predation rates on fish larvae by moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita and by a juvenile piscivore Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius Marine Biology 147 4 863 68 doi 10 1007 s00227 005 1579 8 S2CID 83862921 Uye S Fujii N Takeoka H 2003 Unusual aggregations of the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita in coastal waters along western Shikoku Japan The Plankton Society of Japan 50 1 17 21 a b c d e f g Arai M N 1997 A Functional Biology of Scyphozoa London Chapman and Hall pp 68 206 ISBN 978 0 412 45110 2 Rees W J 1966 The Cnidaria and Their Evolution London Academic Press pp 77 104 Solomon E P Berg L R Martin W W 2002 Biology 6th ed London Brooks Cole pp 602 608 ISBN 978 0 534 39175 1 Tree of Life NJ Jellyfish Aurelia aurita Gilbertson L 1999 Zoology Laboratory Manual 4th ed McGraw Hill pp 9 2 9 7 ISBN 978 0 07 229641 9 He J Zheng L Zhang W Lin Y 2015 Life Cycle Reversal in Aurelia sp 1 Cnidaria Scyphozoa PLoS ONE 10 12 e0145314 Bibcode 2015PLoSO 1045314H doi 10 1371 journal pone 0145314 PMC 4687044 PMID 26690755 Sucharitakul Phuping 2020 Limited ingestion rapid egestion and no detectable impacts of microbeads on the moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita Marine Pollution Bulletin 156 111208 doi 10 1016 j marpolbul 2020 111208 PMID 32366368 S2CID 218504266 Jellyfish contain no calories so why do they still attract predators ScienceDaily Retrieved 2020 06 29 Strand S W Hamner W M 1988 Predatory behavior of Phacellophora camtschatica and size selective predation upon Aurelia aurita Scyphozoa Cnidaria in Saanich Inlet British Columbia Marine Biology 99 3 409 414 doi 10 1007 BF02112134 S2CID 84652019 Towanda T Thuesen E V 2006 Ectosymbiotic behavior of Cancer gracilis and its trophic relationships with its host Phacellophora camtschatica and the parasitoid Hyperia medusarum PDF Marine Ecology Progress Series 315 221 236 Bibcode 2006MEPS 315 221T doi 10 3354 meps315221 Bos A R Cruz Rivera E and Sanad A M 2016 Herbivorous fishes Siganus rivulatus Siganidae and Zebrasoma desjardinii Acanthuridae feed on Ctenophora and Scyphozoa in the Red Sea Marine Biodiversity 47 243 246 doi 10 1007 s12526 016 0454 9 S2CID 24694789 Mills C E 1993 Natural mortality in NE Pacific coastal hydromedusae grazing predation wound healing and senescence Bulletin of Marine Science 53 Proceedings of the Zooplankton Ecology Symposium 194 203 Further reading EditMoen F E E Svensen 2004 Marine fish amp invertebrates of Northern Europe Southend on Sea AquaPress ISBN 978 0 9544060 2 8 Taxonomy Browser National Center for Biotechnology Information October 23 2001 Retrieved 15 May 2013 External links Edit Media related to Aurelia aurita at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Aurelia aurita at Wikispecies Photos of Aurelia aurita on Sealife Collection Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Aurelia aurita amp oldid 1131187970, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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