Stinging tubes in Waterford

Anemone

Hi,
This isn't strictly a diving issue, but it might be of interest to divers. I swim regularly at Clonea beach near Dungarvan, and this morning I was stung at least 6 times by a critter I never saw before. (Yeah I know I shoulda got out after the first sting

The vis was fairly good, and I could see there was loads of these things suspended in the water. They were mostly transparent, so it's difficult to be sure of the body structure (not to mention the fact that I wasn't anxious to get close to them!). They seemed to be a transparent tube of jelly about 4 inches long, and only a few mm in diameter. Spaced out along the tube, at intervals of about an inch, were small dark coloured, solid looking nodules (looked a bit like seeds in a transparent pod).

The stings were mild enough (like a nettle) and left a small raised lump which went down after a couple of hours.

Anybody see these before or know what they might be?

Thanks.

A

jasonb

An educated guess would be a Lion's Mane ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion's_mane_jellyfish ). They can have long tentacles, which is why you could get stung but not see the Bell section. Their tentacles can also have small 'knots' on them.

It is only a guess though...

J.