Umm, er. Anyone know what these are? They look like squidlings that have been nibbled on, but I'm not sure. Any beach combers or marine life experts care to take a stab at this one?
In the meantime, I'll watch where I place my feet in the surf. A romantic stroll down the beach would take a turn for the worse if one of these got squeezed between your toes.
Thanks for the photo, Megan.
Photo courtesy: Megan Deroche
May 11, 2007
Watch Where You Step
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11 comments:
Are they Jellyfish?...
I'm thinking sea cucumber... I'll go look for more info.
Sea cucumber kind of things. I thought they were mostly water, but maybe they're swelled up because they're ded (sorry, just come off of visiting 4-chan)
Here's a nice little link for anyone that wants the basics about these echinoderms.
tolweb.org/Holothuroidea
I've no idea of the species as there's about a million cucs that are a an orange/creamy color like that. Plus, the tentacles are withdrawn which could be because they're out of the water and, as Jack said, possibly dead.
It's definitely a jellyfish, probably of the Rhizostoma genus. This jellyfish doesn't have long tentacles and its body has a very solid constistency.
Could they be a burrowing anemone?
bio student - you may well be right. I've never seen a jellyfish roll laterally like that rather than flatten out dorso-ventrally. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen for sure. :)
The one in the back does seem a bit blobbish for a cuc.
I don't think it's a burrowing anemone but we can't really see the base but the shape seems wrong. *shrug* I'hm just guessing. :D
Ya'll are a lot smarter than me. Stop it.
From lots of beach-walking on the Gulf Coast, I'd say these are jellies. Thy look like the kind we called cannonballs--no long tentacles, really solid, thick bells--and they would move back and forth through waterways with the tides in enormous schools.
I suppose if we had a location that would help narrow things a tad wouldn't it. ;-p
Dear wombat: Pfft - we're not smart it's just that this blog tends to attract a few more invertebrate/strange animal/lovers than is average in society.
Megan here. These are Cannonball Jellyfish. They sometimes wash up in dozens on Florida shores.
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