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Fins to Feather

by Scarlet Colley - July - 2003

Fish are fish but what are jellyfish? They are not a fish. They are not even close to being like a fish. But that is how things get named in the sea. Much like a Dolphin being called a Porpoise when they are very different animals. But we are satisfied with the terms we all grew up with and that is why scientific names in Latin are important when you want to be sure everyone is talking about the same subject. Jellyfish are plentiful in the ocean and South Padre Island has its share of them.

The jellyfish we call a cabbagehead with the scientific name of Stomolophus meleagris, bob around quite harmlessly growing up to the size of a soccer ball. They are eaten in the orient as a salad and are now being harvested in the gulf for just that since they have seem to run out of this jellyfish in the orient waters! The cabbagehead is a great source of food for certain sea turtles and host a variety of fish in around their mushroom like caps. During summer months they mushroom in size and wash up on shore to provide food for many beach creatures and birds. Our dolphins are often seen playing with them as if they were a ball. They toss them back and forth between each other or push them around on their tip of their mouths. Picking up one of these fine jellyfish won’t sting like other jellyfish do and they are beautiful to watch as they pulsate thru the water ever so slowly.

The moon jelly ( Aurelia aurita) also washes ashore in large groups and look like a flat clear pancake with a pink four leaf clover shape inside of it, which is its stomach. They have very short tentacles and are not as harmful as the sea nettle. The sea nettle is a jelly that has long tentacles and can give quite a sting. There are tiny hyperdermic type needles called nematocysts, along the tentacles which fire off on contact and inject a substance that would normally incapacitate a fish. For the human flesh it stings like fire. Another jelly that packs a wallop is a sea wasp (Chiropsalmus quadrumanus). True to its name it is like being stung by wasps when coming into contact with its tentacles.

Some jellies light up and are luminescent. The sea walnut (Beroe ovata) is the size of a large pecan and if put in a cup of water and watch carefully, the beautiful rows of colored lights glow in a wave up and down the sides of the creature. They are easily overlooked they are so clear and small. Until recently jellyfish were impossible to keep in captivity with conventional aquariums. Then it was discovered tanks that circulate water with the lack of air bubbles was the secret to keeping jellies alive. Now jellyfish of all kinds are on display at aquariums across the world. The displays area is kept dark with small spotlights on the tanks and the world of the jellyfish is there for all to see. The pulsating, surreal creatures give a feeling of infinity as their transparency is almost hypnotizing. Though we don’t want to have close encounters of the stinging kind when around the ocean, they still are wonderfully beautiful and mysterious creatures of the sea.

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