Anyone know what this is?

[sniceley]

I don't know what this is but it stung my father pretty badly on the leg while snorkeling in Aruba. It looks like a colonial hydroid or some kind of cnidarian tentacle that is broken off to me, but I can not find a picture like it on the web. Thanks for any help you can provide.

http://youtu.be/8YA4CLTKV9s

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

My first thought is a tentacle from a portuguese man of war jellyfish. They're huge and pack a nasty sting.

 

[snorvich]

My first thought is a tentacle from a portuguese man of war jellyfish. They're huge and pack a nasty sting.

That would be my guess. If you do get stung vinegar (or urine) immediately will help a lot.

 

[billsreef]

If you showed me that without mentioning your dad getting stung, I would have thought salp. But since salps don't sting, Man-of-War tentacle is the best likelihood. Not sure about Aruba, but in S. Florida it's the season for them.

 

[Reeferz412]

If you showed me that without mentioning your dad getting stung, I would have thought salp. But since salps don't sting, Man-of-War tentacle is the best likelihood. Not sure about Aruba, but in S. Florida it's the season for them.

I was just off Colins at the beach and on the shore line were tons of Man-of-War jellies beached. I usually see the tiny ones floating about, but these were huge.

 

[billsreef]

I was just off Colins at the beach and on the shore line were tons of Man-of-War jellies beached. I usually see the tiny ones floating about, but these were huge.

Had a couple of small ones manage to get through Haulover and wash up on campus intact. A couple of undergrads came over to the Marine Science building and were asking me about saving them and getting back to the ocean

 

[Reeferz412]

Lol are they worth saving? I mean for beneficial purposes? Almost every single one i saw (about the size of a taco) were intact and still inflated. Had to have seen about 30.

 

[billsreef]

Other than being sea turtle food, I don't personally consider them worth saving. Their tentacles are usually pretty torn up and badly damaged by the time they get through the surf and end up on the beach, so not to sure how well they would survive if you did get them back offshore. Also would need to take them quite far offshore by boat to keep them from just washing up again with these easterly winds that are driving them ashore.

 

[sniceley]

Their reproductive capacity is very high and they are by no means endangered. Tell your undergrads to put the effort into placing coral frags broken off by wave action onto dead reef spots or something else worth while.

As a zoologist it is nice to see the compassion though in the next generation. Just a little misplaced.