EXPERTS recently confirmed that translucent jelly ‘blobs’ washing up at Ouaisné and St Brelade’s Bay are a unique species of comb jellyfish known as a ‘sea gooseberry’.
Here is a look at eight other types of jellyfish you might just bump in to if you are out swimming this summer.
Barrel jellyfish
A big friendly giant of the jellyfish world, the barrel is often seen in bays during the summer months. It can grow up to a metre in diameter – but its appearance is deceptive as it has the mildest of mild stings – or no sting at all. In fact, divers often stroke this benign visitor without feeling a thing.
Compass jellyfish
With its V-shaped markings, it looks a bit like an underwater umbrella. It grows up to 30cm in diameter and packs a nasty sting. Best not to stroke this one.
Mauve stinger
Not often seen in Jersey waters but can swarm in huge numbers if the sea is warm enough during the breeding season. It has several hair-like tentacles and lives up to its name – it has a nasty sting.
Blue jellyfish
It’s neither a beast nor much of a stinger and is most commonly seen off the north-west coast of Scotland. It is seen in lesser numbers in the Channel.
Lion’s Mane jellyfish
Big, bright and dangerous. It has a large reddish-brown bell and a huge mass of tentacles which deliver a sting that can require hospital treatment.
Portuguese Man o’ War
Call it pretty, call it exotic but don’t call it a jellyfish. The fearsome sounding Portuguese Man o’ War, which looks like a half-deflated balloon, is actually a floating sack of hydrozoans. It can’t propel itself through the water and instead relies on the wind to do the work. The creature, which got its name as its air sack resembles the triangular sails of the Portuguese caravels on the 15th and 16th centuries, packs a very powerful sting which has even resulted in death. Very rarely seen in Jersey waters, and those which make it here are often dead.
By-the-wind sailor
As its name suggests, this is another drifter. It is also not a jellyfish. This harmless creature – comprising a balloon-like sail and a mass of tentacles – can occur in huge numbers.
Moon jellyfish
Up to 40cm in diameter, this translucent jellyfish can easily be identified by its four distinctive gonad rings. It has a mild sting, but you probably wouldn’t want to give it a hug.
