Cigar jellyfish returns

Numerous bathers have submitted reports to the Spot the Jellyfish campaign in the last few days about the occurrence of the cigar jellyfish but the mauve stinger bloom which plagued Malta’s coastal waters in May and June largely subsided this month. Alan Deidun from the IOI-MOC, who leads the Spot the Jellyfish campaign, said the cigar jellyfish was mainly reported at Ghadira, although it was known from most sheltered bays and harbours on the islands. The cigar jellyfish is a species of hydromedusa which has a broad global distribution, being known from temperate Atlantic waters and the Mediterranean. It inflicts a very mild sting which is not perceived by the majority of bathers so it is considered as a largely innocuous species. It is armed with a battery of relatively short tentacles and its radial canals are arranged in a distinctive red cross-like pattern. Up to the early 1980’s, this species was much more common in local waters. Dr Deidun siad that a charismatic species of jellyfish which is expected to make its debut in local waters this year is the fried egg jellyfish which normally makes its advent locally around mid-August. It is known as the fried egg jellyfish and also...