Jellyfish species

[mickeyforster]

Hey there, i snorkel in Strangford Lugh in the Irish sea in Northern Ireland. The past few days especially in this good weather i came accross a jellyfish that i had never seen before when snorkelling. Its very small about the size of a table tennis ball and the same shape with two tentacles about 10cm long on each side. Its very transparent and hard too see.

Does anyone know if these wee jellies sting ?

Cheers Mick

[Clare Peddie]

Hi Mick

Bob Healey has asked me to shed some light on your beastie.

Your jellyfish is almost certainly a Pleurobrachia. They belong to a completely different phyla called the Ctenophores (silent T) (comb jellies).

Beautiful but carnivorous. They catch their prey with sticky mucus and do not have the stinging cells that the jellyfish (Cnidaria) have.

I have given a good link for British marine life below, follow the link and see if the picture matches what you saw.

Best wishes
Clare