By-the-wind sailor or purple sailor jellyfish use their air filled float to sail the surface of the ocean. They are very tiny at 1 inch in length and live up to a month. These jellyfish are characterized by the gas-filled float, or pneumatophore, projecting from the water. This forms a buoyant sail by which they are blown along.
Below the sail, hang tentacles armed with nematocysts, or stinging cells, gonozooids for reproduction and a single, central gastrozooid for feeding and digesting. They are found in tropical and warm to cold temperate waters. It uses its dangling tentacles to catch small fish and invertebrates.
The medusae reproduce sexually and the polyp reproduces asexually. By-the-wind sailors aren’t considered endangered and they aren’t dangerous to humans.
Because they float with the wind, they often change directions and can end up on beaches by the masses. Since they’re harmless, there is nothing to worry about, plus they are bite size.
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