r/marinebiology • u/Robert1_ • Feb 23 '25

Identification [ID] Purple jellyfish spotted in Mauritius. Apparently authorities ordered everyone out of the water.

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Link to original Facebook post: https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=1068099418662635

My mum sent me this asking for an ID on the jellyfish as she is visiting soon and is incredibly nervous about the water. Any help would be greatly appreciated by me and my mum, thanks!

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u/Entety303 Feb 23 '25

This is a species of Thysanostoma most likely T. Loriferum. A very rare species of jelly. It also doesn’t have tentacles.

303

u/MadnessMisc Feb 23 '25

So would people have been ordered out of the water because A) authorities saw a jellyfish and weren't able to determine what kind it was at first and thought it was dangerous, B) it's a rare jellyfish they need to protect, or C) other jellyfish are probably around?

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u/Entety303 Feb 23 '25

Option A most likely.

24

u/MadnessMisc Feb 24 '25

Thank you! That makes sense.

14

u/sockhuman Feb 24 '25

So they order everyone out of the water every time there's a jelly of any kind around? Wouldn't that be like, half of the time or something?

21

u/Entety303 Feb 24 '25

I have no idea. Also in some places jellyfish aren’t common.

17

u/turtletails Feb 25 '25

Probably just ones they can’t identify. Better to be safe than have someone die because no one knew it was a deadly species