Not far behind: First record of Beroe ovata Mayer, 1912 (Ctenophora: Beroida: Beroidae) off the Mediterranean coast of Israel

The American brown comb jelly, Beroe ovata, was first noted off the Mediterranean coast of Israel on 10 June 2011, outside the port of Ashdod. The occurrence of B. ovata soon after its prey, Mnemiopsis leidyi, had been recorded follows the pattern of spread elsewhere, yet its presence in the warm and saline waters of the SE Levant is a surprise.