Gulf Coast residents were alerted today -- jelly in the grass.



Not only in the grass but also in the swimming pools! A man's net scooping out quarter-size buttons left an indelible impression in my brain.



The news was meager in details. But "Jellyfish-like creatures invade coast after storms" had been reported on 20 September 2008 in The Mississippi Press.(1) Hurricanes Gustav and Ike were blamed for blowing in Porpita porpita, or the blue button. These coin-size carnivores are actually colonial animals, resembling the eye of a "peacock's feather". They float in open sea at the surface while feeding on fish eggs and tiny crustaceans. A fish-terminator!



Speaking of terminating the fish, "Billions of jellyfish wipe out N. Irish salmon farm" was in the news in 2007.(2) Mauve stinger jellyfish normally found in the Mediterranean, Pelagia nocticula, overwhelmed more than 100,000 salmon in their net pens. An unusual incident when you consider the rarity of such jellyfish in Northern Ireland before.



On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the blue button's sting is said to be 'not much'. There are other jellyfish without tentacles thus without the sting as well, for example, Rhizostomae.



I read about a non-stinging fresh-water jellyfish of Palau in Micronesia. These creatures live in a lake by photosynthesis alone.



Possibly a first here -- I am happy to report that I survived a jellyfish incident at twelve-years of age. I broke in the middle a transparent Frisbee, I thought, in the Mediterranean while swimming. Fortunate for me, my innocent experiment was not a painful one. No Pelagia nocticula!



(1) http://www.gulflive.com/news/mississippipress/news.ssf?/base/news/122192...

(2) http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/21/salmon.jellyfish.ap/index.htm...