View topic - French River jellyfish?

I noticed this jellyfish-like creature on the French River last August.
Apparently it was attached to the surface of this rock below the water level.
However the water level dropped significantly and exposed this thing.
Its diameter was about 10 sm.

Do you know what that is? Is it kind of a jellyfish or a polyp?

Thanks! I was wondering where I left that.....

_________________
Dave

"The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten." Sigurd Olson, 1956

Jellyfish?
No.

Eggs?
Yep.

Can't comment on the source of these, but it looks like hatch to me - most likely amphibian - I'd guess frogs.

Mike

1) These were larger and harder than frogs eggs.
2) This picture was taken on August 3rd - too late for frogs eggs.

The Blobs - These turned out to be freshwater bryozoans. "Bryozoan" literally means "moss animal." The way science classifies animals, bryozoans are in a group all to themselves - the phylum Bryozoa. Most bryozoans are marine, but a few species inhabit freshwater environments. Common freshwater bryozoans are often jelly-like masses as large as a human head. They are actually a colony of smaller animals, and, like colonies of bees and ants, individuals in the mass can have different jobs to do. If you're brave enough to approach one under water, you may be able to see the "tentacles" of feeding individuals.

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I remember reading about these "blobs" before and couldn't remember the name.

Now I don't remember the website I got this info from.

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"Nature used to surround us, now we surround nature and the change hasn't necessarily been for the better."
Margaret Atwood

Thank you splashdancer.

I found more info on the Internet: freshwater bryozoans and freshwater bryozoans @ Google

Interesting factoids...

Freshwater bryozoa are intolerant of polluted waters, preferring clear, unsilted lakes and rivers.

Colonies of some species can move about on a rock or log slowly, from 1 -10 cm per day.

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><((((º>

You sure it wasn't something I dropped ?????

_________________
Dave

"The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten." Sigurd Olson, 1956

Geez, they seem to work out an agreement better than humans can.

_________________
"Nature used to surround us, now we surround nature and the change hasn't necessarily been for the better."
Margaret Atwood

That said there are Freash water jelly fish, http://www.jellyfish.iup.edu/jellyfish.html
and which can be found in the water ways of central ontario. About 8 years ago was the first time that I've ever saw them as we were paddling the Mag. Cool looking little creaters......I remember thinking that I had discovered something only to learn that much research had all ready be done on them.

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Al Greve http://www.canoewateradventuring.ca South Western Ontario's canoeing specialist

I don't think we can ever really be sure of that.

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No, your other left!
Loon Island Outdoors
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I have seen bryozoans underwater on some Adirondack lakes..taking a trip to see the "aliens" always fascinated the kids at the end of canoe class.

But they did not seem to have such a thick mucoid casing around the entire colony. Each polyp seemed to have an individual casing.

They looked more like a collection of ping pong balls..each hollow.

Its hard for me to be sure as I have only seen them underwater where they are attatched to something like a log.

http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.r ... yozoa.html

There are about forty species in the United States and Canada, from my freshwater invertebrates book... the colonies that are formed by different species are distinctive, so one species' colony could appear different from another.

Useless and interesting fact... bryozoa are one of the difficult of all freshwater invertebrates to culture in the laboratory. They can be kept alive for several days in aquaria by changing the water with fresh lake water, and removing all debris.

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Crap, there goes my plans to market them for aquariums in dental offices and nursing homes.

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Midway 'twixt earth and heaven....
Above, below
Drift with my drifting, dim and slow,
As twilight drifts to even.
- Pauline Johnson -

neat picture of bryozoan colony

http://www.magma.ca/~syatabe/water_brai ... rains.html

hence the nickname water brains.


This is the type I saw..from this site there are twenty or so freshwater species ....some do appear jellyfish liike

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plant ... ozoan.html