A small purple jellyfish that glows at night and can sting. Spot the Jellyfish asks bathers to report it.
The mauve stinger is a mauve-pink jellyfish with long trailing tentacles, up to about 10 cm across. Large numbers sometimes reach Maltese bays, especially when winds and currents push them ashore. It is the Mediterranean jellyfish bathers meet most often, and it is a harmless part of the food web at sea but a nuisance on a beach.
If you are stung: leave the water, remove any tentacles with a gloved hand or tweezers, rinse with sea water (not fresh water) and ask a pharmacist or lifeguard for help. Seek medical help if the pain is severe, if there is a rash all over, or if you have trouble breathing. Do not rub the skin.
Threats
It is not threatened. More jellyfish blooms are linked to warm water and overfishing of their predators and competitors.
How to help
Report jellyfish you see through Spot the Jellyfish, the University of Malta citizen-science project, so scientists can track them. Never touch a jellyfish, even a dead one on the sand.
Photo: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0.
