Roatan: String-like jellyfish

[Donnah]

We saw these most dives end of April. Sometimes there were short strings in the water with a brown dot at the bottom. Othertimes, the strings seemed to be joined together in varying lengths. An instructor said they were a form of colonial jellyfish, but I can't find anything on-line about them. The strings did sting. They felt like thimble jelly larvae. The sting went away with a bit of hydrocortisone. I started wearing thin gloves because the first stings I got were painful during the dive. Aftewards, tiny bumps and redness. Only a few of us were bothered, although the strings were all over in the water, floating in a cloud. I wear a hooded vest in the water because if there is something in the water that stings, I will react.

What are these? And do they turn into something else? I have never seen them before.

 

[vincent54]

Difficult without picture, but Siphonophores are jellies that form string like colonies. They are found worldwide.

 

[Donnah]

Thanks Vincent. Checked out images on Google and it fits. Apparently there are only a few varities that are found close to shore like these. DM had no idea what they were, but said they were all over the place. I wonder what they look like a night. Glowing, maybe.