BLUE BUTTON JELLYFISH (PORPITA PORPITA)

Recently we had a whole bunch of these beautiful but unusual critters wash up on our local beaches. I have grown up around the ocean and beaches, but could not recall seeing them before.

I found out they are commonly called the Blue Button Jellyfish and are often washed ashore in bad weather. They actually are not a true Jellyfish but are classified as Chondrophores, colonial animals made up of polyps ( like Portuguese Man-Of-War). They feed on zooplankton and are about 3cm wide.

Blue Button Jellyfish stings aren't usually too painful, but can cause mild skin irritation. They have a mouth located beneath the float which is used both for eating nutrients and ridding itself of waste. They have tentacles which make them like Jellyfish, each strand has many branchlets which end in knobs of stinging cells called nematocysts.

They are preyed upon by the Glaucus Atlanticus, which was our next discovery, and I will post about this interesting creature tomorrow.

Photos and content by white.tiger