Was surprised to see a large Rhizostoma octopus on the strandline at St
Ouen's this morning. A bit beaten up, but can't ever recall seeing one as
late as November before?
Allbest,
Andrew
Oct/Nov is quite late for Rhizostoma but there are records as late as December in the north of England. There were a couple stranded on the east coast two weeks ago when the easterly winds were in full swing. I haven't seen that many out at sea this year although there was a very large one trapped in the town harbour in Sept. If stranded specimens are in good condition then it is worth checking underneath for any small crustaceans (particularly amphipods) some of which may live within the animal (wash your hands after handling it).
Paul
---- Message from "Andrew Syvret" <and...@seajersey.com> at 2010年11月01日 12:41:11 ------
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PS The prawn pot remains suspended under my boat, will be in touch this
week.
Thanks Andrew - I must try your jellyfish netting trick. You probably know
this already, but both volumes of 'The Medusae of the British Isles' are
available to download from here:
http://www.mba.ac.uk/nmbl/publications/monograph_index.htm They are slightly
out-of-date but do carry the most extraordinary amount of information and
cover most (all?) of the local species.
I am still keen to see what is clinging to your prawn pot.
While I am at it, yesterday I had another confirmed report of the invasive
crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus from the seashore at West Park, Jersey. A
fishermen found it among rocks 'about a month ago' but had the foresight to
take a (rather blurry) photo which confirms the record. By coincidence he
also sent a picture of large Rhizostoma he's seen a few days ago, so they
must still be about.
Paul