Freshwater ecosystems are increasingly threatened by chemical pollution derived from human activities, yet the responses of small and often overlooked invertebrates remain poorly understood. Craspedacusta sowerbii, a globally invasive freshwater jellyfish, is widely distributed in human-impacted waters and may be severely affected by environmental stressors. In this study, we examined how C. sowerbii responds to two common aquatic pollutants: the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole and the heavy metal cadmium. We found that sulfamethoxazole primarily reduced swimming activity and induced body shrinkage, whereas cadmium caused rapid loss of movement, severe tissue disintegration, and mortality within 24 h. Gene expression analyses revealed that the jellyfish activated stress- and repair-related pathways under antibiotic exposure, while cadmium exposure broadly suppressed metabolic and cell cycle processes, overwhelming physiological defenses. These results demonstrate that different pollutants impose distinct limits on stress tolerance in C. sowerbii and highlight its potential value as an early-warning organism for freshwater pollution. Understanding how such organisms respond to chemical stressors is essential for improving our ability to assess ecological risks and interpret organismal responses to freshwater pollution under increasing anthropogenic pressure.

Abstract

Chemical contaminants are increasingly detected in freshwater environments, yet the physiological and molecular responses of many non-model freshwater invertebrates to acute chemical stress remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the physiological and transcriptomic responses of the freshwater hydrozoan Craspedacusta sowerbii to two widespread aquatic pollutants: the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole (20 μM) and the heavy metal salt CdSO4 (10 μM). Morphological and behavioral observations showed that sulfamethoxazole exposure led to reduced motility and body shrinkage, whereas cadmium exposure caused rapid loss of movement and complete mortality within 24 h. RNA sequencing revealed distinct transcriptional response patterns to the two stressors. Sulfamethoxazole exposure primarily induced the up-regulation of genes associated with oxidative stress, apoptosis, immune responses, and signaling pathways, suggesting an active but limited stress-adaptation response. In contrast, cadmium exposure resulted in extensive down-regulation of genes involved in metabolic pathways, cell cycle regulation, fatty acid metabolism, and anti-aging processes, suggesting severe disruption of core metabolic processes. Comparative pathway analyses identified both shared stress-related responses and pollutant-specific transcriptional signatures, with cadmium exerting markedly stronger inhibitory effects at both physiological and molecular levels. These results reveal clear thresholds of stress tolerance and response failure in C. sowerbii under chemical pollution, and highlight its ecological sensitivity to water quality deterioration. Together, these findings provide mechanistic insight into acute pollutant-induced stress responses in a freshwater Cnidarian and offer a useful reference for understanding how freshwater invertebrates respond to short-term chemical disturbances.