The Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas, the rivers and canals that connect them, and the enormous volume of shipping in the region, represent a conduit for aquatic invasion, whose consequences are only now beginning to be understood. This book provides an up-to-date overview of jelly invasions in the Ponto-Caspian which have affected local ecosystems since the early 1980s, contrasting that with other biological invasions, in search of underlying principles.

, and their interaction.- Mnemiopsis leidyi: Distribution and Effect on the Black Sea Ecosystem During the First Years of Invasion in Comparison with Other Gelatinous Blooms.- Interactions between the invading ctenophores Mnemiopsis leidyi (A. Agassiz) and Beroe ovata Mayer 1912, and their influence on the Pelagic ecosystem of the Northeastern Black Sea.- Population dynamics of Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Caspian Sea, and effects on the Caspian ecosystem.- Distribution and biology of Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Northern Aegean Sea, and comparison with the indigenous Bolinopsis vitrea.- Effects of Beroe cf ovata on gelatinous and other zooplankton along the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.- Decreased levels of the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis in the Marmara Sea in 2001.- Preliminary investigation on the molecular systematics of The invasive ctenophore Beroe ovata.- of Beroe cf ovata to the Caspian Sea needed to control Mnemiopsis leidyi.- Feeding, respiration and growth of ctenophore Beroe cf ovata in the low salinity conditions of the Caspian Sea.- A brief résumé of the status of the Mnemiopsis population in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea according to observations during the first half of 2002.- Dynamics of Mnemiopsis distribution in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea in 2001-2002.- Investigation on the distribution and biomass of Mnemiopsis in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea in May 2002.- Ponto-Caspian species invading Europe; information network.- Range extensions of Ponto-Caspian aquatic invertebrates in Continental Europe.- Living in a sea of exotics - the Baltic case.- Internet-based information resources on aquatic alien species relevant to the Ponto-Caspian Region.- Other Mediterranean Invaders.- Invasion of the Jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca inthe Northern Adriatic: a non-success story.- Caulerpa taxifolia: 18 years of infestation in the Mediterranean Sea.- Conclusions from the meeting.- Conclusions from the meeting.