Ever see one of these?

[dorado50]

about 4-5in. in diameter. Not your typical jellyfish.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/8060/aa002.jpg

[dniss]

That's a By-the-wind-sailor jellyfish. The dorsal "sail" allows the species to disperse as the wind blows them around. I read somewhere that half of 'em sail on a port tack, the others sail on a starboard tack. But they look like little clear potato chips when they wash ashore and dry up.

[j mo]

Y a few years ago there were literally 1000's of them washed ashore in Cardiff, it was a strange site indeed. Usually the wind carries them in, strange as there hasnt been much.

[dorado50]

amazing! thanks for info......

[twitchy]

We get a ton of them in the summer time in South Africa. They come in with onshore winds. I dont know if that one stings you, but the ones back home will give you a good shot.

[bender0240]

Yup. Saw one the other day. Picked it up thinking it was a piece of trash. Startled the crap out of me when I realized it was a jelly. A little piece of its tentacle was stuck to my finger. I just sat there waiting for the pain but nothing. Got my adrenaline pumping for a minute because it resembles a Portuguese Man-o-War. That'll learn me.

[Holy Mackerel]

I got stung by something like that in East Cape, so did my wife.

Portuguese Man o' War ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Man_o'_War


http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g287/cmfierro/East%20Cape%202006/Man_of_War.jpg

[Vikingj]

dniss got it right: By-the-wind sailor, Velella velella, has "right" and "left" sailed individuals. It's related to the larger Portugese Man o'war (minus the severe sting!) but actually neither of these floating hydrozoan colonies are true jelly fish. A large blue mass or "flotilla" of these is really cool to see.

[Zed]

Something omitted is that the bythewind j-fish are commonly tuna feed...

Holy, I remember that report! I saw those in EC, too. I think they might be a subsp of Portuguese Man o' War, called blue bottles in AUS.