A bloom of several hundred upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea andromeda) has been noted in recent days near the the salt pans at Salina, for the first time in nine years.

This species is alien to Malta and had entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. It was first recorded in the Mediterranean in 1886 off Cyprus and was only once previously recorded in Maltese waters, in 2009, by the late marine biologist Patrick Vella within Marsamxett Harbour.

According to the Spot the Jellyfish campaign coordinator, Prof. Alan Deidun Cassiopea andromeda, a tropical species, prefers shallow sandy-muddy bottoms in sheltered waters, just as those of the Salina salt marsh.

The species is not dangerous to humans since it only inflicts a very mild sting.

Only last year, Spot the Jellyfish also reported yet another alien jellyfish species within Salina and its proximal waters – the white-spotted Australian jellyfish (Phyllorhiza punctata).

Readers were encouraged to submit their jellyfish sighting reports through the Spot the Jellyfish website (www.ioikids.net/jellyfish), over email (alan.deidun@gmail.com).

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