Evening star., 1921-06-04
JELLYFISH THAT STING.
Southern Portugal Specie Is More
Aggressive Than Northern.

From the New York Times.
Although the jellyfish has long been
| a subject for mirth and jest. he is at
times more aggressive and formidable
than most persons imagine. There are
| various kinds Of jellyfish in local wa
tiers, and swimmers who have encoun-
tered them know they are most dis
agreeable companions. They protect
, themselves with long tentacles which
are not unlike long, thin strips of
paper. and by means Of these tentacles
i they sting their enemies.
| Bathers at times have been greatly
annoyed by these innocent looking
! jellyf1sh. which, skimming the surface
of the water. resemble marine flow
er. When these tentacles or feelers
brush against the flesh Of a swimmer
they cause a burning sensation. AL
red welt on the flesh which sometimes
pains and itches for hours.
None of these local jenyhsh com,
pares insstrength of their sting with
the southern Portuguese jellyfish
known as the man-of-war. This jelly.
the department of recent fishes at the
American Museum. Said, is tropical
animal, found in the trade wind belts
of all oceans, and carried northward
off our coast in the Gulf Stream. Each
Portuguese man-of-war, as a matter
of fact. is made up Of number OF
| small animals of the jellyfish order
which have in common an irideScent-
colored, bubble-like float which rests
on the surface of the water. The float
in turn is furnished with a fin or sail
and in q good breeze the man-of-war
progresses by its aid across the wind
rather than directly before it
The little animals which hang sus-
pended from the float are not alike
Some are specialized for eating. and
supply nourishment for the colony
The function of others is solely that
of reproduction. Still others devote
their attention to singing chance ac-
quaintances, and are so effective that
If two or three of them be drawn
across a mans arm they are capable
of almost paralyzing it for a short
time.
One of the most interesting things
about this Portuguese jellyf1sh is a
small species OF fish conSpfcuously
spotted, which accompanies it on Its
travels. and when danger threatens
it is safe from attack. protected by
the powerful stinging tentacles Of its
companion. These little fishes are not
immune from the sting, and they
strike occasionally against the tenta-
cles and are killed. But in general
Incy seem quite sale duQ .
Up to about fve years ago there had
been no record Of this little, fish COM
panion Of the jellyfish from the Island
Of Porto Rico. A representative OF the
American Museum who visited the
island was sure they must occur be-
cause the man-of.war drifted SO fire.
quently upon the island shore. He
therefore made a special trip to a
point on the shore at which the cur
rent was known to come in from the
open sea- After watching for a while
a man-o war jellyfish was seen ap-
preaching the coast on the seas sur
face With a net he swan out and
scooped in the jellyfish. and sure
enough. when he brought it to land
there was little man-of-war fish
which had accompanied it.
In universities the jellyfsh is used
in the study of xoology as an example
Of cooperation among several indi-
viduals for the common good. The
technical name for the Portuguese
jellyfsh IL Nomeus. He is a fea-
ture Of the tropics. His companion
the man of war fish, is two or three
inches in length. The float of the
jellyfish is about the size Of mans
ist.