Invasive Australian Spotted Jellyfish Sighting on Texas Beach Might Mean Less Food for Native Marine Life

According to experts, the reported discovery of an Australian spotted jellyfish on a Texas beach may mean fewer food sources for native marine life.

Invasive Australian Spotted Jellyfish in Texas

The June 30 encounter was referred to by the Padre Island National Seashore as a "not-so-welcome" discovery. It is an Australian spotted jellyfish, according to officials, and it is found far away from its natural habitat.

Although the jelly is indigenous to the Pacific Ocean, it has just started to show up in the Gulf of Mexico. According to Padre Island National Seashore, the spotted species grows enormously, reaching a width of 20 inches, and moves in sizable groups. But unlike many other varieties of jellyfish, it cannot directly injure humans.

The species, according to officials, have weak venom and are not dangerous to humans. They can't even use their poison to stun prey because it is so weak. They are therefore large, soft, and safe.

Competition for Native Marine Life

According to Padre Island National Seashore, since entering the Gulf, the species has been consuming copious amounts of zooplankton, making it difficult for nearby marine creatures to find food. According to the Texas Invasive Species Institute, experts think the species may have snuck into the Gulf of Mexico by attaching itself to ship hulls in the form of polyps.

Before moving on to the adult "medusa" stage, when they typically live for another two years, the spotted jelly can survive for up to five years while in the polyp stage of its life cycle, according to the institution. This intruder has recently developed enormous swarms in the Gulf.

Australian spotted jellyfish congregate in large concentrations, which can be problematic because each jellyfish can remove approximately 1,765 feet of plankton-filled water in a single day. There isn't much the typical person can do if they come across one of the jellyfish, despite the fact that they can have a negative impact on the ecosystem of the Gulf.

Officials claim that the best course of action from a person's point of view is to just leave the jellyfish in their current location and allow nature to take its course, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

According to NPR experts via Newsweek, jellyfish tend to dry out and perish very quickly when they wash up on the beach. The remainder will eventually dissolve into the sand after being consumed by gulls, crabs, and other scavengers.

The Australian spotted jellyfish is listed as a potential threat to the shrimp industry by the US National Invasive Species Information Center because it clogs nets and harms fishing gear, according to Newsweek.

Invasive Species Management

Snails that consume jellyfish in their budding polyp stage, which helps to control the jellyfish population, exist in the Pacific region, but they are not present in the oceans around North America. The management of these jellyfish populations is not well understood, especially given that they are found in areas of open ocean with low salinity, which causes the jellyfish to perish along with their symbiotic algae.

Although live jellyfish can be caught to help reduce the population, there may be millions of them in one region, and fishermen can only commit so much time to managing an animal that doesn't pay, according to TISI.