Hordes of jellies are positioned in prime spawning areas just as breeding season for many popular gamefish kicks into high gear.
Scientists say the animals have already started eating eggs and larva at an alarming rate .
This is pretty serious. It could be totally devastating. This explosion of native jellies could, threaten the future of commercial and recreational fishery in the northern Gulf, scientists say. But it is an invading exotic species, the spotted jellyfish, that scientists consider the real wild card. These 25-pound jellies have established themselves in passes between the barrier islands that divide the Mississippi Sound from the Gulf, creating a impenetrable wall that tiny larval fish, shrimp and crabs cannot pass through without becoming dinner for the invaders.